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Geejam Hotel is part of the Geejam group which includes a studio, production media company and villas located on eight acres. Last week, the Observer reported that The Jolly Boys, a mento band (produced and managed by Geejam), beat all living reggae and dancehall artistes to top the international reggae charts.
Baker said that the decision to utilise equity rather than bank loans related to high interest rates and charges.
"Apart from crime in Jamaica, the single greatest setback is the banking system," he said. "The banks in Jamaica continue to do nothing for people of the Jamaica and you can quote me on that."
The Jamaica Banking Association last week blamed higher interest rates and greater non-bank competition as the reason for banks in Jamaica ranking regionally at the bottom of a recent World Bank report.
Baker told the Business Observer that the expansion would seek to increase the hotel's pace of recovery following the Tivoli incursion in May which led to over 70 persons killed.
"We were 90 per cent occupied in first half of 2010, it was off the hook until the Tivoli Gardens debacle. We are seeing signs of recovery but the momentum was lost," he stated. "We decided to turn a negative into a positive preparing for our second expansion."
Baker, who made his fortune from music, sold his US-based label Gee Street Records to Chris Blackwell's Island Records in 1990. The result of that deal saw Baker become senior A&R at Island Records and president of Island Jamaica for North America. Island Records owns the bulk of the masters for the Bob Marley catalogue amidst other megastars.
Baker said that the decision to utilise equity rather than bank loans related to high interest rates and charges.
"Apart from crime in Jamaica, the single greatest setback is the banking system," he said. "The banks in Jamaica continue to do nothing for people of the Jamaica and you can quote me on that."
The Jamaica Banking Association last week blamed higher interest rates and greater non-bank competition as the reason for banks in Jamaica ranking regionally at the bottom of a recent World Bank report.
Baker told the Business Observer that the expansion would seek to increase the hotel's pace of recovery following the Tivoli incursion in May which led to over 70 persons killed.
"We were 90 per cent occupied in first half of 2010, it was off the hook until the Tivoli Gardens debacle. We are seeing signs of recovery but the momentum was lost," he stated. "We decided to turn a negative into a positive preparing for our second expansion."
Baker, who made his fortune from music, sold his US-based label Gee Street Records to Chris Blackwell's Island Records in 1990. The result of that deal saw Baker become senior A&R at Island Records and president of Island Jamaica for North America. Island Records owns the bulk of the masters for the Bob Marley catalogue amidst other megastars.