After $16 Million Spent In Design And Site Preparation
Sandals Resorts International (SRI) has suspended construction work on what was to be its fourth hotel in Saint Lucia.
This was announced yesterday by SRI, which says the decision will remain “pending the outcome of outstanding legal matters filed by The Landings through its attorneys, Peter Foster and Associates.”
The matters referred to were filed shortly after the company broke ground on the Pigeon Island site in May.
According to the SRI press release, “Our advice is that the claims are without merit, and the company reserves it’s rights to recover all costs and damages.”
Work on the fourth Sandals project ground to a halt following the Landings decision to file for Judicial Review of matters relating to sandals’ project on land bordering The Landings.
According to the Sandals release, “Because of delays caused by having to address this legal action, SRI has had to take the difficult decision to end the employment of its Projects Management Team and sub-contractors (comprising some 37 persons) who were already engaged on the site.”
It said this action was taken “after months of absorbing a significant wage bill with no work being done, and after the company had already invested in excess of US$6 million (EC $16.2 million) in design and site preparation.”
According to Sandals, “This project was to have employed over 1,000 persons during construction and create a further 780 highly-trained permanent jobs
“We therefore apologise to the many skilled workers, vendors, suppliers and other stakeholders who will be impacted by the suspension of work.”
SRI says, “This decision was not taken lightly, and we must commend the efforts of the Government, as well as other stakeholders, for their tremendous support in trying to make this project happen “We could not have asked for anything more…”
The statement concluded: “We are mindful of the importance of this investment for the people of Saint Lucia, both in terms of the economic impact as well as the new jobs that would have been created while remobilization of resources from this point on may take months.
“Sandals Resorts International stands ready to do so once possible.”