Message Board Archives

The 28-acre development would sit on the site of Fort Monk, a Courlander fort built in 1680, making it potentially the oldest structure in the whole of T&T, and an area with an important Amerindian history where artefacts turn up routinely.Critics of the Marriott resort development plan for Rocky Point, which sits directly above Mt Irvine’s world-famous point break surfing location, fragile coral reefs and turtle nesting beach, say it threatens a wipeout of the very attractions which have drawn tourists to Mt Irvine for decades.

The Rocky Point Foundation (RPF), an NGO set up to fight the development and come up with an alternative and sustainable tourism plan for the rugged peninsula, believes that while a Marriott-branded hotel should be welcomed by Tobago, the location chosen at Rocky Point could prove a death knell to Mt Irvine, its wave, its reefs, its turtles and its vibe.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has said the $500 million Marriott resort will be built “come hell or high water”, while certain Tobago politicians have promised it will not become another Sandals, referring to the pull-out of the Jamaican resort group from Buccoo in 2018.RPF and environmental NGOs SOS Tobago and Speseas are of the view that the location chosen is unsuitable for the development comprising a 216-room hotel (which includes hotel bungalows) with dozens of villas, cabins, cabanas, townhouses and duplexes scattered over an archaeologically important site surrounded by coral reefs and a turtle nesting beach.

THE Marriott-branded resort, which will be built by Trinidadian John Aboud’s Superior Hotels, is being sold to the Tobago public as the new answer to Tobago’s tourism woes.The Sunday Express asked Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Chief Secretary Farley Augustine and the development consortium why they believe a ubiquitous Marriott hotel and real estate development sprawl situated above a beach too dangerous to swim on would miraculously turn everything around?And why did they believe a brand-driven resort like Marriott would succeed when the experience of having a Hilton-branded hotel and championship golf course at Lowlands failed so dismally?

With the THA putting up loss-making Magdalena Grand (the old Tobago Hilton) up for sale – had the THA discussed with the developers that they buy and take over that resort?Did they look at the developers taking over the defunct and once-beautiful Arnos Vale hotel site, or Manta Lodge or Sanctuary Villas, currently bleeding THA coffers?The Sunday Express asked Augustine whether there was logic in building more hotel room stock when demand for the existing ones remains so depressed, when empty sites already existed in better locations?

How did that concept and message square with building a potentially destructive concrete carbuncle perched high on the handsome bluff of Rocky Point, decimating the otherwise glorious coastal vistas for miles in every direction, threatening the environment and archaeological treasures?The Sunday Express e-mailed two members of the Superior Hotels development consortium, John Aboud and John Scott, seeking answers to several questions on the project, but they have declined comment.
THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine also did not comment.

archaeologically important site surrounded by coral reefs and a turtle nesting beach