(Jamaica Observer) The Bruce Golding-led Caricom Review Commis-sion indicated on Tuesday that the current dispute between the Government of Antigua and Barbuda and Jamaican-owned Sandals Resorts International (SRI) had come up on its radar, in respect of the issue of perceived unfair practices.
Prime Minister Gaston Browne recently withdrew a tax concession agreement that Sandals had signed with the previous Baldwin Spencer Government in 2009, saying it was illegal and accusing the hotel of not paying over sales tax under the agreement.
Sandals has hit back that Browne’s decision was done unilaterally, without notice and without any evidence of wrongdoing on the hotel’s part. SRI has also said it would sue the Antigua Government for defaming its vaunted international brand.
At the first meeting of his star-studded 17-member commission, Golding was asked by journalists if the review body was aware of the dispute and what approach, if any, it would take to seek a resolution.
“Yes, it has come up on our radar in a generic way, because it would have to do with the question of perceived unfair practices,” Golding, the former Jamaican prime minister, said. Commenting on Browne’s accusations of withholding taxes, Sandals insisted that it had been operating in Antigua and Barbuda since 1992 and had consistently been audited by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, and more recently by Grant Thornton International, as well as by the Government’s own tax department and “never has there been cause for any such accusations”.
“In 2015, we paid to the Government of Antigua and Barbuda taxes in excess of US$5.2 million and in the financial year 2016 we paid over US$5.8 million in taxes. We estimate that our direct contribution to the economy of Antigua and Barbuda exceeds US$27.5 million per annum and we earn more foreign currency than any other resort chain on the island,” SRI said.
“As far as the 2009 Host Country Agreement is concerned, that agreement actually dates back to 2000 and was signed by the then Government led by Sir Lester Bird.
The basis for the concession agreement had to do with our commitment to build at least another 100 rooms. In fact, we went much further by constructing 180 suites at a cost of over US$100 million,” SRI added.
