DSH Under Review at Next Parliamentary Sitting

TOURISM Minister Dr Ernest Hilaire, this week, sought to update reporters about the current status of the formerly proposed Desert Star Holdings’ (DSH) Pearl of the Caribbean project, which was intended to transform the economic landscape and fortunes of residents in the southern community.

Amidst latest speculations on the DSH project, Hilaire said, he would be addressing the matter at the next parliamentary sitting.

Members from the Vieux Fort community, last month, put up an exciting horse racing event on the Kaka Bouef.  The spectacle drew wide response from jockeys across the island, patrons, enthusiasts and corporate sponsors.

There has been talk about developing this community event into a fully competitive national sport (Event), while   making adequate facilities available for that purpose.

“At the next sitting of parliament, I intend to make a statement on DSH,” said Hilaire, at a recent media briefing.

He recalled that Opposition Leader Allen Chastanet had announced publicly “that the developer was planning to take Saint Lucia to court…to sue us.”

Hilaire said, he felt that this was most “inappropriate for him to do so” considering that during the reign of  former Prime Minister Chastanet’ s administration,  the government at the time, sealed a deal with the DSH developers.

“The fact is the developer did not make a public announcement, we (government) did not make a public announcement, but he (Chastanet) chose to do so …and in whose interest did he choose to do so,” Hilaire queried.

In the initial stages, the Saint Lucia Government entered into a partnership with Desert Star Holdings Limited (DSH) for the development of the Pearl of the Caribbean, a development plan for the south of the island.

The proposed project( Plan) was to build a marina, a racecourse, a resort, shopping mall complex, casino, Free Trade Zone, entertainment and leisure facilities, eco-tourism as well as architecturally designed villas and apartments.

At the time, expectations were that the project “will raise economic activity in the south of the island and provide significant job opportunities”.

The race track, which was in  the first phase of the project would be located on approximately 200 acres of land at Beausejour , Vieux Fort. Plans were submitted to the Development Control Authority (DCA) and were approved in principle,  pending an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

Has the DSH project been abandoned, and is there any hope that the facility may be up-and-running again and local jockeys can benefit from using the racecourse?

At this stage, noted Hilaire, if the two parties involved are trying to work through the issues “and there is no public announcement, he (Chastanet) chose to make it global and to say so …and that has complicated things for us in Saint Lucia, by him making that statement.”

Hilaire contended that this is the level of “irresponsibility that we’ve grown accustomed to from the Leader of the Opposition …so, I will make a statement on the DSH and on his comments.”

Asked to comment on the recent ‘Creole Horse Racing’ event, in Vieux Fort, the minister stated: “It is not linked to DSH, the DSH is a separate facility …it’s a facility that is in the context of resolving the DSH development and deciding its future.”

He added: “For now, I think the local community will have to continue doing what they did before, which is to organise their horse racing on the rudimentary track that they put together.

“Creole horse racing has always been popular in the south, and even in the north (at Trim’s) …so it’s nothing new or exceptional that happened and DSH is still something to be resolved, and hopefully we will have a clear path as to how it’s going to be resolved.”