Sandals, no sweetheart deal, says Shaw
Published:Wednesday | February 16, 2011 | 9:23 AM
Jerome Reynolds, Gleaner Writer
Jamaica's finance minister Audley Shaw has dismissed claims by the Opposition that the sale of the government's shares in the Sandals Whitehouse hotel to a Gordon “Butch” Stewart company is a sweetheart deal.
The property has been sold to Gorstew Limited for US$40 million.
The Sandals Whitehouse hotel was to have been built at a cost of US$65 million, but ended up costing about US$112 million.
Speaking last evening at a forum organised by the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) young affiliate group Generation 2000, Shaw said the hotel is being sold at the current market value.
He says current global conditions and the lease arrangements as well as minimal profits and high subsidy have made Sandals Whitehouse unattractive to investors.
According to Shaw, this was one of the reasons the government engaged Gorstew especially given that the company already had a stake in the property.
The Contractor General is probing the Sandals Whitehouse deal.
jerome.reynolds@gleanerjm.com