September 19th 2012
Mr. Hubert Hughes
Chief Minister
Government of Anguilla
The Valley
Anguilla
Dear Mr. Hughes
Greetings
We deem it necessary to reply to your letter of September 14, 2012, which conveys the response of the Executive Council to our presentation made to that honourable body on September 10, 2012, on the Cap Juluca matter.
We assure you that we will continue to use our best efforts in the interest of Anguilla, and particularly to support those efforts of the Government which are designed to enhance the well being of the people as a whole.
We find the tone of your letter to be quite dismissive and somewhat combative, evidenced by the following e.g. “We are sure that you now appreciate the complexities and difficulties the Government of Anguilla has been grappling with for more than two years”; “We wish to underscore that your interest in mediating this dispute was of a personal nature and independent of the Government of Anguilla.” “We wish to refute your findings that “there appears to be strong support from the Government of Anguilla (administrative and executive) for the Brilla Group to take over Cap Juluca.””.
We plead for openness and for the spirit of statesmanship to prevail. We believe that our hopes and dreams for Anguilla are similar, even if there may be some differences of opinion. In such cases, tolerance is the best way forward.
We wish to draw particular attention to the second paragraph of your letter. You stated, “Moreover the Government of Anguilla was of the view ….. it is evident that you have concluded that no agreement is forthcoming”. We are not responsible for any view the Government of Anguilla may have, but we must point out that the substance of your statement is incorrect. We wish to couple this with your statement in the first paragraph, “However, we share your profound disappointment that your attempts to mediate the differences between the major stakeholders at Cap Juluca were not successful”. This too is incorrect and misleading.
Here are the objectives of our mediating effort:
1. To ensure that Cap Juluca can be opened in time for the beginning of the upcoming tourist season, or as soon as possible after.
2. To facilitate dialogue between the Brilla group and Hickox group that would lead to a long term or permanent solution to the problems which plagued the Cap Juluca Resort over the years, and thereby arrive at a viable alternative to the Government’s compulsory acquisition, which could result in very high costs for compensation and litigation, in addition to other unwelcomed and unpleasant outcomes.
3. To urge openness, fairness and justice on the part of all players, especially the major players, including the Government of Anguilla.
There is no mention of us attempting to create “a unified ownership structure”. It appears that number 12 of our findings was overlooked. It reads: “The Brilla Group have expressed a willingness to work with any entity that the Government of Anguilla recognizes as bonafide”. They indicated their willingness to return toAnguillaat short notice to engage in further talks.
We emphasize, again, that our primary goal was to ensure that Cap Juluca can be opened in time for the upcoming tourist season. Mr. and Mrs. Hickox, the owners of 73% of the hotel have expressed their commitment to open the hotel and operate it with or without the four and a half villas owned by the Brilla Group (finding # 11). Following our talks Mr. and Mrs. Hickox have communicated their plans for refurbishing, opening and expanding the facilities at Cap Juluca to you and to us.
In response to paragraph 3, we wish to indicate that since we are acting on behalf of the public, we are obliged to communicate with them. We remind you that our presentation to the Executive Council was followed by minimal discussion, cut short by Executive Council decision. Further, we did indicate to you that we would communicate with the public.
In Paragraph 5 you stated, “We are of the view that the recommendations in your presentation to Executive Council on 14th(actually 10th) September 2012 are impracticable because the facts you were considering were incomplete and your criteria seriously flawed”. Stated this way it appears you are saying that everyone of the 8 recommendations is impractical and cannot be implemented. We find this astonishing, and wish to remind you of them for your reconsideration.
We recommend the following:
• That the motion before the House for the compulsory acquisition of Cap Juluca be withdrawn;
• That Mr Hickox be given a fair chance to demonstrate his ability to restore and operate Cap Juluca as a five-star luxury resort and the “flagship” ofAnguilla;
• That all outstanding procedural issues between Mr Hickox and the Government of Anguilla be speedily resolved, so that the right atmosphere for the development of business confidence can be created;
• That the Government of Anguilla publicly affirms Mr Hickox as the legitimate owner of 73% of the resort in accordance with the outcome of the auction sale and the court decision and therefore bona fide to do business in Anguilla;
• That a new MOU between Mr Hickox and the Government of Anguilla be speedily agreed to which includes (i) a clear and reasonable timetable for renovation and expansion, given market realities, and (ii) a penalty clause for failure to perform in accordance with the timetable, and (iii) clear and reasonable monitoring guidelines.
• Until the new MOU is agreed to with Mr Hickox, the MOU with Mr Aron be grandfathered to enable all action to facilitate the opening of the hotel for the next season;
• That necessary efforts be made to restore confidence and trust between the Government of Anguilla and Mr Hickox;
• That Government use whatever means are at its disposal to recover from Mr Adam Aron those outstanding monies which should have been paid over to the Government of Anguilla.
Please sir, tell us, and tellAnguilla, what is impracticable about any of these.
Contrary to your conclusion, we are of the view that our mediating efforts were quite successful. We achieved at least three things:
1. We got Mr. and Mrs. Hickox and the Brilla Group to talk around the table, this was not happening.
2. The Brilla Group has expressed a willingness to work with any entity that the Government of Anguilla recognizes as bonafide.
3. Mr. and Mrs. Hickox have committed to reopen Cap Juluca for the upcoming season with or without the Brilla Group’s villas being part of the rental pool.
We concur fully with you regarding the stewardship role of the Government and we repeat our readiness to be a responsible partner with you as you fulfill that role. However we do commend again our findings and recommendations. Some of them may be uncomfortable, but dismissing them does not remove the challenge they pose or solve the problems they indicate. The good steward is also the wise and honest steward.
Every good wish.
Sincerely
____________________
Bishop Errol Brooks
_____________________
Rev. Dr.CliftonNiles
____________________
Sutcliffe Hodge
(Published without editing by The Anguillian newspaper.)
