Lee Chin buys Blue Lagoon

[Hopyoneson]

Re: Lee Chin buys Blue Lagoon

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OK, now that you clarify [img]/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Question:
How bad is the area as mentioned above? Is it easy to get to by road?

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Truth be told, the roads are horrible I have not been up those parts since Ivan but I am sure the hurrican made it worst. The only good roads are the highways from what I have seen and the stretch from Trelawny to Runnaway bay is bare white marl dust and chaka chakka road work a gwan this year. 2007 might be when it finally done in time for world cup.

[Morpheous]

Re: Lee Chin buys Blue Lagoon

Zeen... [img]/forums/images/graemlins/70402-thinking.gif[/img]

[Dr.Dudd]

Re: Lee Chin buys Blue Lagoon

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Poor infrastructure delays us$25-m upgrading of Dragon Bay hotel, says Stewart

Observer Reporter
Wednesday, February 22, 2006



The Sandals Resort chain says it is unable to upgrade and reopen Dragon Bay Resort in Portland, which it bought almost four years ago, because of inadequate infrastructure in the parish.


STEWART. among the new facilities to be added are several lavish suites and an elaborate European spa
According to Sandals Chairman Gordon 'Butch' Stewart, the existing road network leading into and around Portland is deplorable and incompatible with the quality product that is planned for Dragon Bay.

"The existing poor state of Portland's infrastructure makes it virtually impossible to successfully market the upscale product which is contemplated for Dragon Bay," Stewart said in a news release yesterday.

Stewart, who was responding to recent concerns about the future of the resort raised by Port Antonio Mayor Rupert Kelly, said that a business model has been developed for the resort and has been awaiting implementation for more than two years.

Stewart's Sandals group formally acquired Dragon Bay Beach Resort on March 22, 2002 from the former owners, Albert Abela Corporation and SSI Cayman Limited. The group plans to spend US$25 million to refurbish the 90-room property.

However, yesterday Stewart said that after almost three years, promises by the Port Authority to extend the runway at the Ken Jones Aerodrome and install lights at the facility are yet to materialise.

The more than 133 miles to Dragon Bay from the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, Jamaica's main airport for tourist arrivals, makes air transfers through the Ken Jones Aerodrome a practical way of moving guests to and from the hotel, he noted.
But Stewart said that faulty social facilities and an unclean town are major deterrents to investment in the parish.

"This is a source of great disappointment, as Sandals is anxious to see Portland flourish like it has never done before," said Stewart. However, he said that given the circumstances, it was not possible to develop an upscale resort at Dragon Bay and maintain any level of occupancy that would make the hotel viable at this time.

Stewart said his plan was to refurbish and upgrade Dragon Bay Resort to the equivalent of a Royal Plantation, the premier product within the Sandals chain.

"Among the new facilities to be added are several lavish suites and an elaborate European spa," he said. "The new Dragon Bay Resort has been designed to complement Portland's unique ecological attributes and will target the top end and long haul segments of the travel market."

SOURCE

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Funny eh up here it is the business people have to upgrade their roads and they pay real taxes, not the 1/10th of 1% that they pay for property taxes down there.

[Hopyoneson]

Re: Lee Chin buys Blue Lagoon

The man a ginal is sweat heart deal him want like him get wid air jamaica and fatten his pockets at the expense of tax payers. This idiat govt will buy into it too and bow to his pressure, instead of investing in the actual people of Portland and the wider jamaica.