Fellow Anguillians, I am sure many of you are tired of the back and forth addresses, press releases, and statements surrounding the Cap Juluca issue….. All this is happening at a time when every effort should be made on finding a solution that would lead to the benefit of all concern, particularly the workers at cap juluca and Anguilla in general. So it is unfortunate, that I am here responding to a press release from the Villa owners of Cap Juluca….. But it is with great pride that I must clarify the premise of my factual presentation made to the people of Anguilla about the recent issues surrounding Cap Juluca in my radio address on May 14th 2013.
Let me make it abundantly clear that the premise of my presentation had absolutely nothing to do with “conflating/combining the issues of the Villa Owners being subjected to a “rental pool” operated by the Hickoxes, with the willingness of the Villa Owners to rent their Villas” as was stated in the Villa Owners press release. And to suggest the same by anyone who read or listened to my presentation would be misleading.
My presentation dealt with undisputable documented facts, facts which we must never allow to be overshadowed or replaced by political propaganda….The premise of my presentation was based on the following facts:
a) the MOU signed by this AUM/APP government in August 2010 superseded the MOA signed by the previous administration in July of 2009 as stated on page 1 of the AUM/APP’s MOU and I quote “upon its taking effect through affirmative House of Assembly vote, this MOU shall supersede and wholly replace the Memorandum of Agreement entered into by the parties on July 7, 2009”.
b) Under both the MOA and the MOU all villas located on Maundays Bay and Cove Bay beaches are required to be place in the Rental pool. In this regard, Page 5 of the MOA and page 6 of the MOU signed by Chief Minister Hubert Hughes states that—– “to preserve Anguilla’s tourism economy, the Government requires that all existing and new villas that are located directly on Maundays Bay Beach and Cove Bay Beach be included in the Hotel’s rental program when such units are not occupied by their respective Buyers subject to use restriction stipulations where applicable. This requirement is a material inducement to the Government’s willingness to enter into this MOA/MOU and the Government would not otherwise agree to the terms and conditions of this MOA/MOU without the foregoing requirement”.
c) “The 2010 MOU agreed and signed by AUM/APP government is what governs the operations of Cap Juluca Properties and it is in this AUM/APP “MOU” and the leases/subleases under this government that answers to the questions surrounding the sale of villas and the inclusion of rooms in the hotel room rental program must be found.
d) The problem is not in the crafting of the MOU but rather in the implementation of the MOU. The MOU required that all EXISTING villas must be included in the hotel room rental program. Therefore these villas that were sold to the Brilla Group (Villa Owners) and others are REQUIRED to be included in the hotel room rental program of Cap Juluca Properties….and
e) Staff at Cap Juluca were losing their jobs because 4.5 villas on the beach were lock down. Clearly since Cap Juluca operated 98 rooms with about 375 staff and now If 30 of those rooms are locked down (for whatever reason)—-then approximately 30% of the staff should expected to be sent home…. Common sense.
Fellow anguillians, in stating those facts, I made the statement that there must be some other document/s agreed to and sanctioned by this government which gives the Brilla group(Villa Owners) the right to pad lock their villas at Cap Juluca on Maundays Bay Beach. I then asked these questions of the government – Is there an existing document that gives Brilla group (Villa Owneres)the right to pad lock their villas at Cap Juluca ——or—- Who gave Brilla group(Villa Owners) the right to pad lock their villas at Cap Juluca –and– Why Brilla group is able to pad lock their villas at Cap Juluca?”
Our concerns are for the lives of the people who worked at CJ and who are now unemployed and for the future of the workers who are still working there as well as for the future of Cap Juluca itself. As a party we welcome all developers to our shores and take no sides in the ongoing dispute between the Hickoxes and the Villa Owners.
Let me make it quite clear, that the we(AUF) believe that the Villa Owners have a right to protect their investment and that the Hickoxes also have a right to protect their investment as well…..And it is the Government of Anguilla’s responsibility and their right to protect the interest of ANGUILLA and its people ——- that is where the problem lies.
My Fellow Anguillians we have all heard the Villa Owners press release that was repeated almost every hour on several radio station for about 10 days. That press release was very informative and certainly confirm and clarified all that I pointed out in my address….In short, it is this AUM/APP Government actions or inactions that are clearly responsible for what is happening at Cap Juluca today.
I am grateful to the Villa Owners(Brilla Group) for affording me and others the opportunity to see the many documents which included agreements between the Villa Owners and Mr. Aron ( the subleases) and ALHL that were agreed to and approved by this government. And to clarify/verify that this AUM/APP government was fully informed and acquainted with the contents of the relevant sublease and instruments as quoted in #10 of the Villa Owners press release — Quote___”The government of Anguilla was also duly provided with all the relevant Subleases and instruments, which were approved, as evidenced by the issuance of the Alien Landholding Licences(ALHL) to each of the Villa Owners.”
The documents presented to us by the Brilla(Villa Owners) group clearly shows:
1. The statuary forms for registration of the subleases were filed at the Department of Lands and survey on 24th February 2011 and March 11th 2011,
2. The Alien Land Holding Licences(ALHL) were signed off on the 28th February 2011 and 23rd March 2011 respectively.
3. The subleases were registered on 10th march 2011 and 5th April 2011 respectively.
I have all these document in my possession, so anyone wishing to view them can do so. I encourage everyone to have a look and read for yourself, then it would be obvious to all that this AUM/APP government was provided with the subleases which they agreed to and approved as well as the approval of the ALHL for each of the Villa Owner. These are the same documents that give Brilla group(Villa Owners) the right to have the 4.5 villas on the beach at CJ lock down today —- those protective rights are enshrined in a number of rights that were agreed to and approved by this government and quoted in # 2 of the Villa Owners press release —quote—“ these rights include but is not limited to
a) (“Villa Rental Rights”) The right to control the rental of any villas acquired by the Villa Owners .
b) (“Occupant Rights”)The right to use grounds and facilities of the resort for the benefit of the Villa Owners and their guests….while all the net income generated by the Villa Owners’ villas were and are payable to the Villa Owners—Restated ,the Villa owners are entitled to ALL the Profits generated by the rental of their villas.
c) (“Put Right”)The right of full return of investment plus interest and expenses in the event that the Crown Lease is lawfully transferred to any person or entity with whom the Villa Owners did not wish to do business or did not feel possessed the requisite credibility, financial strength or professional wherewithal to successfully operate the resort.
My Fellow Anguillans—- WHY would our government (this AUM/APP) signed a MOU in August 2010 mandating/requiring that ALL the EXISTING villa rooms at CJ be put in the hotel rental pool when not in use by the owners and their designated guess——-and then in Feb 2011 agreed to and approved subleases and the issuance of ALHL which gives the Villa Owners the option of not having to put their Existing villa rooms in the rental pool.
Our government fell asleep and ignored the contradictory clauses in those documents (subleases and instruments) or they read the documents and did not understand what they were reading or were not aware what they had agreed to and signed in their MOU.
As I said before the RECENT disastrous issues surrounding Cap Juluca are wholly and solely the responsibility of this AUM/APP government .The Chief Minister has said before in the HOA that he had innocently signed a document authorizing the Social Security Board to borrow US$200mill from a company with a mail box address—-Were these subleases and instruments and ALHL for the Villa Owners INNOCENTLY agreed to, sanctioned and approved by his government as well? Can this country continue with this type of leadership?
Fellow Anguillians and Julucans it is as clear as crystal , that under the sublease agreements with Brilla(Villa Owners) and Mr. Aron, and approved by the AUM/APP Government through the issuance of the ALHL, that Brilla group(Villa Owners)has the right to pad lock their villas, a right which they have exercise. These rights however can be seen to be in violation of the terms of the MOU that this AUM/APP Government signed with Mr. Aron in August 2010.
The recent issues surrounding the Cap Juluca Project lies squarely with the decisions or lack of decisions made by the present Administration .Court proceedings are not new to CJ—CJ has been in litigation for over 2 decades while achieving numerous awards regionally and internationally—no one was ever laid off during that period and CJ remained opened and functioning and played a critical role in AXA’s economic and financial successes over the years. Those are the undisputable facts.
But in the face of the challenges being faced by the people of Anguilla in these circumstances — there is no time to waste on casting blame even where blame is factually due. Let me be very clear here—that we in the AUF take NO sides in the CJ issue but we must agree with the Villa owners when the say “ the solution for Cap Juluca is wholly within the powers of the Government of Anguilla”…. So chief Minister Hughes,it is not the responsibility of the Governor or the British Government or the previous administration—it is YOU and YOUR government’s responsibility to sort out CJ… It is now time to fix it once and for all. It is time to get those closed villas opened up and operational and to get our people back to work. Yes, that responsibility lies with the sitting Government. I can assure you that we (the AUF) are willing and ready to support the Government in any sensible plan of action to resolve the issues at CJ and get our people back to work.
I thank you all! God bless you all! God bless Anguilla!
(Published without editing by The Anguillian newspaper.)
