Former Finance Minister Camilo Gonsalves and Opposition Leader Ralph Gonsalves on Wednesday made the following specific comments regarding the Marriott Hotel project.
The Former Finance Minister explicitly stated that the Marriott Hotel project planned for the Mt. Wynne/Peter’s Hope area has been scrapped by the new administration and told radio listeners, “You see the Marriott Hotel at Mount Wynne forget about that. That is gone”.
The cancellation of the Marriott is cited as part of a broader trend where the new budget removes major capital projects without replacing them.
The younger Gonsalves noted that the cancellation leaves “40 something acres of land” at Peter’s Hope without a development plan and described this as “land with no plan,” grouping it with other cancelled developments like the Arnos Vale city and the Parliament building.
Gonsalves expressed concern that because the Marriott project has been cancelled and there is no new plan for the site, the government might be tempted to sell this “prime real estate” to generate quick cash due to the budget deficit.
The former finance minister warned that the government might sell the land to “friends and family” at a discount and cautioned that facing a “cash crunch,” the administration might be inclined to sell these assets to business persons who approach them, rather than developing them for the country’s long-term growth.