By Faith Edwards
TOBAGO may soon return to Sandals’ radar, as Prime Minister Stuart Young confirmed unanimous support to re-invite the resort group to invest in the island.
This announcement was made during a media conference hosted by Prime Minister Stuart Young at the Office of the Prime Minister at Central Administrative Services Tobago, following a meeting earlier this morning at the Prime Minister’s Official Residence in Tobago.
Young said there was a unanimous agreement among stakeholders to invite Adam Stewart and the Sandals group to explore investment opportunities in Tobago and include it in their Destination brand.
Although Assemblyman Watson Duke and Curtis Douglas left before the discussion concluded, both indicated invitations on behalf of those they represent for Mr. Stuart and his Sandals group to visit Trinidad.
“The Chief Secretary had said that Tobago is open for business, and they look forward to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), Final Investments and to attract Foreign Direct Investment.”
Young said, “It was unanimous to invite Sandals to look at Tobago again and then, I have to say quite sensibly, one of the stakeholders in the room, Mr. Martin George who is a lawyer by profession, suggested that everyone in the room representing the Tobago stakeholders agreed to a resolution before we invited Mr. Stuart and his team back in the room.”
“I’m happy to say that it was developed by the Tobago stakeholders with some legal inputs by me, the following resolution, Tobago Sandals Development Resolution be it resolved that having had a meeting with the Prime Minister, the THA, and the central government, and the team from sandals resorts, we the leaders and representatives of sectors and interest groups in Tobago, have collectively agreed that it is in the best interest of Tobago for us to invite the Sandals group for discussions and negotiations for the bringing to Tobago of a Sandals resort, if they so desire and that was signed by everyone in the group, from Tobago and the Tobago stakeholders,” he said.
Young said he invited Stuart and his Sandals team back into the room to share the positive news. Mr. Stuart thanked the group and revealed that Sandals is currently planning five new hotel investments across the Caribbean. Prime Minister Young suggested that Tobago be the sixth, with Mr. Stuart confirming that discussions would follow. Young expressed hope that Sandals would soon decide to include Tobago in their destination packages and invest in a Sandals resort.
Young assured Tobagonians that he would work tirelessly to secure future investments for Tobago. He also shared that Mr. Adam Stuart, and his team left with a copy of the resolution, which they received with appreciation, and he hopes for a positive response from Sandals in the near future.
He said, “I’m really hoping and looking forward that in the not too distant future Tobago, will be the pride of the Sandals group… and we will be able to have a Sandals hotel here in Tobago, for the people of Tobago, inviting persons to come and spend their money in Tobago.”
This is not the first time the Government sought partnership with Sandals Resorts International (SRI) for investment in Tobago.
Adam Stuart, Executive Chairman of SRI, was involved in discussions with the Trinidad and Tobago government regarding the development of a Sandals resort in Tobago. In October 2017, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between the government and SRI to facilitate this project. However, the project faced widespread public criticism over the lack of transparency surrounding the agreement and the commitments made by the Government. In December 2018, Tobagonians called on Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley for clarity on the agreement’s specifics and the legislative promises involved.
As a result, in January 2019, SRI withdrew from the project, this decision ended the proposed Sandals resort development in Tobago.
