Janet Silvera

Senior Tourism Writer

Visibly livid at the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), Pablo Piñero, president of Grupo Piñero, says he is being blocked from investing US$200 million into the expansion of his Bahía Príncipe resort in Pear Tree Bottom, St Ann.

"I am very angry with Jamaica because the promises to us were not kept," the hotelier told The Gleaner at his offices in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, earlier this week.

"The attraction to invest in the country came with the agreement that I could build three hotels amounting to 1,800 rooms," he disclosed, adding that if he had not been promised, he would not have come to Jamaica.

under review

On Thursday, a representative from NEPA would only say: "The Gran Bahía Príncipe hotel permit is currently under active review and is to go back to the board (of the organisation) in short order for consideration."

The Spanish investor, who has already constructed 680 rooms in phase one of his resort project, said he has been waiting for more than a year to get a permit to complete the other two phases; however, this agreement was revoked "and I was reassured that I would have received it".

The overall project is valued at US$450 million.

"I am not blaming the Jamaican Government, I am blaming NEPA," he stated, claiming the environmental agency was giving him one excuse after another while he stood to lose millions of dollars of projected profit from tour operators to whom he had contracted his beds.

job opportunities

But with only a third of the number of rooms that he planned on building, the hotelier argued that some 1,000 Jamaican workers were being denied employment opportunities. Currently, the resort employs 1,000 people directly, providing linkages to sectors such as agriculture.

"I spend US$5 million per month in the island's agricultural sector just feeding my guests," he disclosed to The Gleaner.

Seemingly at the point of admitting defeat, Piñero shook his head and declared, "We believe too much in Jamaica, believing we can get the permit."

Having already made a success of his other hotel ventures in the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Mallorca and the Canary Islands, the hotelier said he may be forced to move his investment plans to Aruba.

The spotlight was turned on the resort last March when the environmental watchdog group Jamaica Environmental Trust called for public consultation on permits issued to the proprietors of the hotel.

janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com