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Portia warns investors
Suggests PNP Government won’t honour divestment agreements
BY INGRID BROWN Observer senior reporter browni@jamaicaobserver.com
Friday, November 11, 2011
LEADER of the Opposition People's National Party (PNP) Portia Simpson Miller last night issued a stern warning to potential investors in the properties being divested by the Government, suggesting that her party would form the next administration and would not honour the sale agreements.
"I hear a long list that they intend to divest, but I am warning people who intend to buy them that the PNP will be returned to power soon, so be careful, because we will not be standing for it," she said at a mass meeting in Port Antonio square.
"As soon as the PNP returns to power we will be dealing with it," she warned.
Simpson Miller said although the Government was denying that Dunn's River Falls was among a number of local attractions being divested, this does not seem true, since it has been rumoured since last year.
"Since we never see smoke without fire, we asking you to be careful," she said.
On Wednesday, Senator Arthur Williams, the minister with responsibility for information, told journalists at the weekly post-Cabinet press briefing that the executive had approved two contracts for consultancy services to begin the divestment process for Kingston Container Terminal (KCT) and six local attractions which are managed by the Urban Development Corporation (UDC).
The contract in relation to the KCT, he said, was valued at US$3.33 million and was awarded to PricewaterhouseCoopers .
The other contract, Williams said, has been awarded to Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited in the amount of $29.3 million for the privatisation of local attractions presently being run by UDC.
"This concerns a number of local attractions that will be privatised... so that the UDC can get back to its core business, rather than seeking to run the entities themselves," he said.
Initially, Williams had said that the attractions included Reach Falls in Portland, Two Sisters Cave in St Catherine and Dunn's River Falls in St Ann.
However, yesterday he issued a news release saying that Dunn's River Falls was not among the attractions up for divestment.
"The UDC attractions slated for privatisation by way of concession agreement, that is, contracting-out the management and development of the assets, are as follows:
* Reach Falls
* Green Grotto Caves
* Two Sisters Cave
* Laughing Waters Restaurant and Beach Club
* Turtle River Park
* Top Forte/Belmont/Roaring River/Malvern Park," the news release said.
But last night, a strident Simpson Miller reiterated that the PNP will not allow the Government to divest other "important properties and heritage sites belonging to the Jamaican people".
"The PNP will be defending the natural resources and heritage of the Jamaican people and will not allow them to be sold," Simpson Miller said.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...#ixzz1dOpTPQYP
Suggests PNP Government won’t honour divestment agreements
BY INGRID BROWN Observer senior reporter browni@jamaicaobserver.com
Friday, November 11, 2011
LEADER of the Opposition People's National Party (PNP) Portia Simpson Miller last night issued a stern warning to potential investors in the properties being divested by the Government, suggesting that her party would form the next administration and would not honour the sale agreements.
"I hear a long list that they intend to divest, but I am warning people who intend to buy them that the PNP will be returned to power soon, so be careful, because we will not be standing for it," she said at a mass meeting in Port Antonio square.
"As soon as the PNP returns to power we will be dealing with it," she warned.
Simpson Miller said although the Government was denying that Dunn's River Falls was among a number of local attractions being divested, this does not seem true, since it has been rumoured since last year.
"Since we never see smoke without fire, we asking you to be careful," she said.
On Wednesday, Senator Arthur Williams, the minister with responsibility for information, told journalists at the weekly post-Cabinet press briefing that the executive had approved two contracts for consultancy services to begin the divestment process for Kingston Container Terminal (KCT) and six local attractions which are managed by the Urban Development Corporation (UDC).
The contract in relation to the KCT, he said, was valued at US$3.33 million and was awarded to PricewaterhouseCoopers .
The other contract, Williams said, has been awarded to Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited in the amount of $29.3 million for the privatisation of local attractions presently being run by UDC.
"This concerns a number of local attractions that will be privatised... so that the UDC can get back to its core business, rather than seeking to run the entities themselves," he said.
Initially, Williams had said that the attractions included Reach Falls in Portland, Two Sisters Cave in St Catherine and Dunn's River Falls in St Ann.
However, yesterday he issued a news release saying that Dunn's River Falls was not among the attractions up for divestment.
"The UDC attractions slated for privatisation by way of concession agreement, that is, contracting-out the management and development of the assets, are as follows:
* Reach Falls
* Green Grotto Caves
* Two Sisters Cave
* Laughing Waters Restaurant and Beach Club
* Turtle River Park
* Top Forte/Belmont/Roaring River/Malvern Park," the news release said.
But last night, a strident Simpson Miller reiterated that the PNP will not allow the Government to divest other "important properties and heritage sites belonging to the Jamaican people".
"The PNP will be defending the natural resources and heritage of the Jamaican people and will not allow them to be sold," Simpson Miller said.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...#ixzz1dOpTPQYP
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