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  • 2 years ago
Mixed views from the Tobago public, on the construction of the two hundred room MARRIOTT hotel at Rocky Point Shirvan Road TOBAGO. A five million dollar private investment.

This as Superior Hotel held its first public consultation at the Buccoo Multipurpose facility which is part of the Certificate of Environmental Clearance process. More in this Elizabeth Williams report.
Transcript
00:00 Part owner of Superior Hotels, John Abood, spoke to the environmental impact and talks
00:07 with central government and the THE.
00:10 So we know some people are concerned about the runoff, some people are concerned about
00:14 the sewer, but all I can tell you is that all of that is not going into the water.
00:20 For example, the sewer is going into the WASA system on the main road.
00:25 The runoff is being dealt with engineering-wise to ensure that there's no additional pressure
00:32 on the ecosystem, the marine ecosystem in particular.
00:36 At the government level, we have met with central government and the THE, explaining
00:42 our plans and aspirations for the site, with emphasis on socio-economic benefits for Tuligonians
00:49 and of course the investors.
00:51 A packed Buku multi-purpose facility on Thursday. Some of those in attendance included Tourism
00:58 Secretary Tasha Boris, Deputy Chief Secretary Dr. Fabie Israel, Minority Leader Kelvin Morris,
01:05 PNM Tobago Council Political Leader Ansel Dennis, and other persons from the tourism
01:10 and environmental sector.
01:13 Mixed views from the public, inclusive of former journalist Jerry Ali.
01:19 Recognizing that this project would significantly influence and benefit young people on the
01:25 island, I am happy that this stage that we are at currently is something that would grow.
01:32 When you sit in my position, you have young people coming to you every day looking for
01:36 employment, looking for ways in which they can better themselves.
01:39 What I want from you, Mr. Abud, is your commitment to ensuring that you would add to the youth
01:45 development as it pertains to agriculture, as it pertains to putting out a list of what
01:49 would be required if your hotel is approved, that we can prepare ourselves as young people
01:55 to be able to supply your hotel.
01:57 I'm speaking on facts, that no hotel in Tobago that were built in the last 20 years, there
02:04 were total objections by the environmentalists. And no environmentalist could stand up here
02:10 today and prove, because I did all the bad stories on Hilton Hotel. I did all the bad
02:17 stories on Grafton. I did all the bad stories on Le Grand Colon. And nobody could stand
02:24 up here and tell me what they had predicted to me 20 years ago with Grafton, come to pass.
02:33 You don't mash down, you don't destroy the green environment to put up buildings.
02:39 You can take a building like Harnesville, beautiful spot, a couple miles away, and develop
02:45 that and leave that beautiful property right there just where it is.
02:48 I ask you, how many 200 room hotels do we already have in Tobago that have not been
02:53 successful and are sitting empty most of the time? Do we need another one? How is this
02:59 going to be handled differently?
03:01 Because the people of Tobago will benefit. The farmers will benefit. Whether it's poultry,
03:07 whether it's egg farmers, whether it's crop fishermen, trademen, heavy equipment
03:14 owners, because there's a construction. Everybody will benefit.
03:19 We have to balance the needs of this island in a particular way. You have to balance it
03:24 with the investor who wants to invest, and he wants to know what is required for a return,
03:29 a reasonable return on his investment. And the investor has to know what is the policy
03:35 position of the THA and the government in doing certain things. The investor also has
03:41 to know that he has serious concerns and deal with the issues of environmental protection
03:47 and so on.
03:48 Consultations are to continue into 2025. Elizabeth Williams, TV6 News.
03:54 news.
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