The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

A former tourism minister yesterday queried whether the government is getting “value for money” over its Grand Lucayan purchase, stressing that securing the right brand was critical to revive the resort.

Obie Wilchcombe told Tribune Business he was not surprised at the pace of the sales process, adding: “It’s unfortunate but I expected this. The government is spending a significant amount of money a week.

“I don’t think that they have disclosed the weekly pay for staff. The government hasn’t told us how much money has actually been spent on the purchase. I believe that is certainly more than $65m when all is said and done. The question, ultimately, though is are we getting value for money?”

Mr Wilchcombe added: “I’m one of those who believed that the government should move in this direction. I don’t believe that the government needed to spend the money that we have because we should have been able to work a better deal with Hutchison. The real question is: Are we going to get the right brand into Our Lucaya?

“That is going to be crucial. Obviously, we are not going to make the period that they suggested. It’s going to take several more months, which will take us to later in the year if any deal is done. The Carnival deal might help in attracting the brands you want, otherwise the government is going to have to consider how it can work with a brand and get some skin in the game.”

The government initially set a six-month timeline from September 2018 to offload the hotel. However, that was changed and, last November, tourism minister, Dionisio D’Aguilar, said it was expected that the resort would be sold by the second quarter of 2019.