"One professional property investor from Sussex paid a £30,000 deposit in 2006 on a one-bedroom property at the Merricks Beach Resort on Barbados, scheduled for completion in 2008. He received photographs of the scheme, apparently in mid-construction, but when he visited the site this summer it was untouched.
"The place was a dustbowl. The pictures were of somewhere else," says the investor, who does not wish to be named prior to taking legal action against Harlequin. He says Harlequin accepted the scheme was behind schedule, but offered to return his deposit only by direct debit in monthly payments over two years.
Another British buyer at the resort, a senior executive at a multinational food company, paid a £45,000 deposit on an apartment in 2006 but says she "heard nothing about it for years". When she expressed concern to Harlequin recently she was told not to worry. Now she is consulting lawyers, but says: "I'm expecting to lose all the money." Harlequin told Cash it would not comment on individual cases."
"During a public meeting at Bayley's Primary School Tuesday evening, St Philip residents received retails about the project and got a chance to air concerns about water distribution and access to the nearby beach.
Documents which the developer Harlequin Hotels & Resorts released at the three-hour meeting showed that more than 750 people would be employed during the construction phase and 1 500 will be needed to operate the complex that includes a five-star hotel.
In a presentation to the estimated 150 people, David Senior of architects Robertson Ward Associates Limited said the development would put a total of 1 242 beds on the market.
The tourist complex includes three hotel blocks, eight apartment blocks, 18 "plantation" houses, 42 one-bedroom cabanas, a 500-seat conference room, restaurants, shops and a spa village.
In an interview afterwards, Chairman of Harlequin, Dave Ames, told the DAILY NATION that the company is expected to spend between US$300 million and US$400 million on the Merricks project."
"Plans are well on stream for what is being described as the largest hotel resort in Barbados.
The project has been in the works for some time but is now nearer to reality.
The new billion dollar resort is to be built on 70 acres of oceanfront land in the area around Peat Bay.
The United Kingdom based developers, Harlequin Property, say it will comprise nearly one thousand hotel rooms including suites, apartments, custom homes and cabanas.
Merricks Barbados five star luxury spa resort will be made up of a five star hotel, about 10 villas and 600 apartments with over 12 hundred bedrooms..."
"England is deserted, Australia and New Zealand have merged, and the man who bought Ireland has killed himself.
They were designed to make Dubai the envy of the world: a series of paradise islands inhabited by celebrities and the super-rich reclaimed from the azure waters of the Arabian Gulf and shaped like a map of the Earth. It was called The World.
As millions of tonnes of rock were dumped into the sea for the foundations, timely leaks suggested that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were to buy Ethiopia, Sir Richard Branson was tipped to occupy England, while Rod Stewart would border him in Scotland.
Instead it has become the world’s most expensive shipping hazard, guarded by private security in fast boats and ringed by warning buoys to keep the curious away. A development that was meant to send Dubai’s star into the firmament of First World cities has been left to the mercy of the waves and the baking winds..."
"PRIME MINISTER DAVID THOMPSON is expected to take a four-nation trip shortly to meet with investors on several projects here that have been stalled.
Speaking at a Press conference at his Ilaro Court residence yesterday, Thompson said he would visit the Britain, Canada, United States and China.
He said there were more than 12 projects that had to be discussed, and he intended to sit down and see what concerns the investors had and what issues could be resolved.
Among those to be discussed are Four Seasons, Sam Lord's Castle, "some on the West Coast and one at Merricks in St Philips, some of which have groundwork to be done and some of which are almost ready and can proceed at a moments notice..."
- NationNews.com 9/16/09
"PM wants joint effort to restore Sam Lord's
by TRACY MOORE
PRIME MINISTER DAVID THOMPSON yesterday called for a joint venture or full private arrangement to redevelop Sam Lord's Castle that now lies in ruin.
The Prime Minister and several ministers and Government officials toured a number of St Philip sites yesterday,
"We don't want to have to use significant taxpayers resources except in facilitating some sort of joint-venture arrangement or alternatively a full private sector arrangement that protects the interests of Barbadians and delivers on what we want - beach access, protection of the Castle and perhaps mixed-use of other tourism development in an area of Barbados that needs to have further development."
He told the Press: "Let me make it clear, Sam Lord's Castle is a building of historic interest in Barbados. There was intended on that site a tourism development which would have seen a significant broadening of the product that Barbados offers, also in an area where it is critical for us to provide jobs and to have new economic infrastructure."
He added: "We are determined to see that particular project or one like it proceed. We are not interested in owning Sam Lord's Castle . . . . We are interested in seeing it developed in the interest of Barbadians.
"That is part of reasons why we feel that Sam Lord's Castle is important to be acquired at this time.
"We expect that as soon as we can complete our analysis of what can be done with the property . . . we will work with other persons to ensure that it is developed."
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