BLP against Seasons shift

THE Barbados Labour Party (BLP) is raising objection to the apparent transformation of the Four Seasons project from a self-financing private sector initiative to one that is being driven by Government.
The concern comes against the background of Government asking the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to lend money to investors in the project, and approaching the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) for help in getting the project up and running. This is on top of Government’s $120 million refinancing of the project that stalled in 2009 after the developers ran into financial difficulties.
In a statement issued on Saturday, BLP spokesman on tourism and international transport Ronald Toppin questioned why Government was so insistent on investing more in the project since, according to him, the failure of the developers Paradise Beach Limited to secure private sector financing “demonstrates a lack of investor confidence in the project”.
He described the Government’s decision to get further financially involved through the NIS as a “bizarre move”. (DP)
 
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