Letter to the Editor on proposed restart of Tobago Sandals talks

Friday 4th April 2025

To the Editor,

Following Dr. Rowley’s statement on 15th March 2025, we now know from our newly-selected Prime Minister, Stuart Young SC, that Adam Stewart, Executive Chairman of Sandals, is scheduled to visit Tobago on Monday 7th April 2025 to resume discussions on the Tobago Sandals project.

According to PM Young, “We need to learn from the mistakes of the past, and not allow a few misguided naysayers to stop the potential development of the economy of Tobago. This is for Tobago.”

In response to Dr Rowley, THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine remarked, ‘‘…Tobagonians rejected the Sandals project because it was undemocratic and did not make proper economic sense, that MoU that was signed by the current MP for Tobago West (Shamfa Cudjoe-Lewis) and it did not meet the environmental best practices or standards that we wanted…” (The emphasis is mine, as I entirely agree with those comments.)

This is the same Government that resisted all attempts to release that MoU, even as Dr. Rowley and Stuart Young repeatedly insisted there was no secret agreement. Sandals itself joined that refrain until my lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act forced the disclosure of that troubling document.

If we are to truly “learn from the mistakes of the past,” we must confront the fact that the MoU contained highly unbalanced commercial terms, so advantageous to Sandals that one wonders whether proper legal and financial advice was ever taken. In my professional view, it remains the most one-sided agreement I’ve seen in this sphere. No surprise that Sandals officials were beaming in every photo until the MoU became public and I explained its implications. At the January 15, 2019, press conference announcing Sandals’ withdrawal, both CEO Gebhard Rainer and Stuart Young looked markedly less cheerful. As always, sunlight is the best disinfectant.

The MoU obligated the State to design, build, furnish, and fit-out the resort at public expense and on publicly-owned land. Beyond that, Sandals was to enjoy unlimited work permits for non-nationals, sweeping tax holidays, duty concessions, and even facilitation of transfer pricing.

Considering that the full financial burden was to be borne by the State and Sandals was to carry no financial obligations, not even local employment, it is entirely fair to ask: what was in this for us?

This was an exploitative arrangement by any reasonable standard. Any new agreement must reflect a significantly improved balance in the national interest. Unfortunately, my expectations remain low, given that the original promoters, Dr. Rowley and Stuart Young, have never defended the terms of that flawed proposal.

I have long called for an open, transparent approach to large-scale projects, including widespread public and stakeholder consultation before commitments are made. This principle remains unfulfilled.

This concern was clearly articulated as Recommendation 17 of the Uff Report (2009):

“User groups and other interest groups should be properly consulted on decisions regarding public building projects, to ensure that relevant views can be expressed at the appropriate time and taken into account before decisions are made.” (My emphasis)

In addition, projects of this scale demand open-book accounting to safeguard the public interest.

It is also important to emphasise the environmental and social risks inherent in a project of this scale. The originally proposed site at No Man’s Land is a Ramsar-listed wetland and coastal zone, which raises serious questions about ecological sensitivity. While it is unclear whether the same location is being reconsidered, there has been no public disclosure on this point. Related stakeholders — including those in environmental management and technical consultancy — have privately expressed significant concerns about the weakening or bypassing of environmental safeguards in this process. Issues such as the treatment and disposal of wastewater, the outfall from a potential desalination plant into shallow coastal waters, and the disruption to local ecosystems remain unresolved. These concerns are not peripheral, they are fundamental. A resort development on this scale must meet rigorous environmental standards, not circumvent them.

If the State is again expected to fund this mega-project, then Sandals must contribute appropriately—paying proper taxes and fair wages. Tax holidays and concessions are indefensible if public funds are underwriting the entire enterprise.

As stated at the outset, there must be extensive public and stakeholder consultation before decisions are made. That is fundamental in any democracy.

Afra Raymond
Managing Director, Raymond & Pierre Ltd,
Chartered Valuation Surveyors, Real Estate Agents and Property Consultants

JAMP Citizen Perspectives: Fighting Corruption via Parliament webinar: 1 April 2025

JAMP (Jamaica Accountability Meter Portal) presented the findings of its citizen survey on parliamentary accountability in the fight against corruption. Afra Raymond was invited to be a guest speaker at this webinar hosted by Jeanette Calder, Executive Director, JAMP, to give a Trinidad and Tobago perspective on accountability and transparency. Video courtesy JAMP

Programme Length: 00:32:09
Programme Date: 1 April 2025

No tax holiday for Sandals – Trinidad and Tobago Guardian

The T&T Guardian newspaper interviewed Afra Raymond on the issue of the renewed engagement of the Sandals hotel group to develop a resort in Tobago. The following article, written by Andrea Perez-Sobers and published on Friday, April 4, 2025, is presented below. Click here to read the complete article on the Trinidad and Tobago Guardian website.

If the State is to revisit and fund the Sandals mega-project in Tobago, the hotel must pay proper rates of tax and rates of pay to its staff.

There ought to be no tax holidays or concessions if the entire complex is to be funded by public money and on publicly owned land.

That’s according to former head of the Joint Consultative Council (JCC) Afra Raymond, responding to former prime minister Dr Keith Rowley’s statements on March 15 that he has personally reached out to the Sandals’ owner with a plea to take another look at the island.

“I didn’t give up after all that (first failed attempt). Recently, I spoke to the leadership at Sandals, and I asked them to come look at this again, and if I was the problem, I wouldn’t be there moving forward,” Rowley said, at the commissioning of Tobago’s new terminal of the ANR Robinson International Airport..

Continue reading →

PROPERTY MATTERS – the role of the Valuation Roll

The implementation of the controversial Property Tax is now underway in Trinidad and Tobago, marked by a series of official announcements and the issuance of revised Notices of Valuation to an estimated 400,000 residential taxpayers. While these revisions are necessary, there is a critical flaw in the system that must be addressed: the restricted access to the Valuation Roll database. This column explores the implications of this restricted access, argues for the necessity of transparency, and identifies who stands to gain from maintaining the status quo.

The new Property Tax system in T&T aims to deliver equitable taxes through a crowd-sourcing approach, which promises transparency and low operational costs. Property owners were asked to submit detailed returns – about 60,000 of which were sent – which were then analyzed by the Valuation Division of the Finance Ministry. Selected properties were inspected and measured, leading to provisional tax assessments. Taxpayers have the right to object to these assessments, which would be refined through this iterative process of public feedback, ensuring fairness and accuracy.

Continue reading →

Keynote address to Regional Compliance Consultants Breakfast Seminar

Afra Raymond’s keynote speech at the 11th Anniversary Breakfast Seminar for Regional Compliance Consultants (RCC) held at Courtyard Marriott in Port of Spain on Wednesday, 22 May 2024. He spoke on the theme “The Importance and Ethics of the Compliance Profession”. The master of ceremonies was Kingsley Lewis of RCC.

Programme Date: 22 May 2024
Programme Length: 00:20:54

Courtesy RCC

A worthy NGO?

‘…We are not Serious…
Very few Conscious…
So I cannot agree with mih own Chorus!…’
from the first verse of ‘Dis Place nice’ by Brother Valentino

‘…Your silence will not protect you…’
Caribbean Philosopher Audre Lorde, on the false beliefs and toxic consequences earned from calculated or cowardly silences

“Last call to all corporates. Support this worthy NGO if you can,” was the rallying note from an erstwhile Colleague who had served on the Board of the T&T Transparency Institute (TTTI). This was an appeal to boost ticket sales for the TTTI’s fundraising dinner carded for 22 May 2024, but it ultimately provoked me into making these pointed observations, so here goes.

For a some years now, it has become increasingly clear that TTTI had drifted from its purpose with less and less work, of lower and lower quality, emerging from that NGO of which I am an Ordinary Member. One can scarcely believe that this was once a vibrant, outspoken and well-informed NGO with dedicated leaders such as Victor Hart, Richard Joseph, Deryck Murray and Annette des Iles, not that we can ever forget the recently departed Reginald Dumas and Boyd Reid.

I am making serious alIegations, so let me show the extent to which the TTTI has strayed from its purpose. Apart from its bewildering silence and lack of support during the recent campaign to have the Public Procurement & Disposal of Public Property Act proclaimed, one can scarcely recall the last time any TTTI Representative was on TV, Radio or in the printed Press.

TTTI’s webpage offers a June 2021 item as the latest in its ‘Press & Media Releases’ tab (almost three years ago), with its latest ‘News’ item being the January 2024 ‘Launch of the 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index’, to which I will return.

TTTI’s IG account seems to have been captured by fete-promoters, with scandalous content, which I notified TTTI about since early December 2023, ~~but the contents are still there~~. [N.B. The account, with 2 posts and 10 followers to date, is online.]

TTTI’s FB page is moribund with not one single local issue highlighted in the whole of 2023 (!);

On Twitter, TTTI is also moribund (only 146 followers), with its most recent post being an anodyne International Women’s Day flyer dated 8th March 2023. The most recent local issue or event is its Town Hall meeting on 27th October 2020 against Gender-Based Violence in T&T. Clearly, both of those are important issues, but what is the nexus with TTTI’s mission?

The newly-elected TTTI Chair, Ms Donna Jack-Hill, presented the 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index on 30th January 2024 and some of her comments on the need for an independent and robust Judiciary were widely misunderstood to be pointed at T&T’s Judicial Officers. A strong backlash emerged with Press Releases from the Law Association and the Judiciary, together with several newspaper articles/editorials.

As unfortunate as it was, the misreporting of those TTTI statements and the public backlash presented a good opportunity to clear the air and for the new Chair to have reset standards. It is my view that this required a timely and solid response from TTTI, since the Press Reports on the 2023 CPI, were deeply critical of TTTI’s credibility. I am not aware that any public comment or clarification was made, so perhaps this Gala Dinner will be yet another chance to correct the record and find a new voice, albeit too long in coming. We will see.

In 100 years’ time, historians will struggle to understand how in a land like ours, an organisation like ours (yes, I am a true member of TTTI) could have said so little at a time like this.

Careerists who are concerned to bolster their CV and careful to avoid offending anyone with more power or money than themselves are a clear and present danger to our Republic, especially when they maintain an intentional silence in the face of epic wrongdoing.

Sad to say, but TTTI’s apparent reluctance to clarify or raise its voice is redolent of the evasions and strategic silences of our ruling class. Silence is the Enemy of Progress.

I welcome a response to these issues from TTTI.

Afra Raymond
afraraymond.net
This is my critique of the output of the TTTI, published on Sunday 19th May 2024 in the T&T Express, T&T Guardian and T&T Newsday, it also appeared on Wired868 – https://wired868.com/2024/05/21/dear-editor-is-tt-transparency-institute-really-a-worthy-ngo/.

Raymond & Pierre’s 50th Anniversary Land & Property mini-conference

Afra Raymond, Managing Director of property advisory company, Raymond & Pierre, speaks at the company’s 50th anniversary celebration, a mini-Conference on Land and Property in Trinidad and Tobago, hosted at the Centre of Excellence on Tuesday 13th December 2022. His first topic there was ‘Public Procurement law through the lens of professional responsibility‘. His second topic there was ‘Land & Housing Policy in post-Independence Trinidad and Tobago‘ that sees to the needs of poor people.

Programme Date: 13 December 2022
Programme Length: 00:16:02 and 00:12:38

Playlist contains 2 videos. Select in top right corner.

Letter to the Editor – Come Again, Minister West

The Editor,

The Minister of Public Administration [MPA] responded to my previous letter in the Sunday Edition of 29 October 2023, the very next day.

TTT Live Online

Minister West disputed my citations of the monthly rent of $600,000 and the 23,000sf floor area of those offices, as well as my conclusion that the resulting rent of $26psf signified ‘flagrant corruption’. The Minister went on to say that the correct monthly rent was $500,000 and that the floor area was in fact 43,295sf, which equates to a rent of $11.55psf.

As I indicated in the previous letter, my figures were drawn from both the PM’s public statements and the immediately subsequent Express article. The PM emphatically stated the monthly rent to be $600,000 at the post-Cabinet Media Briefing on Thursday 23rd March 2023 and the 23,000sf floor area is in that Express article of 11 March 2023 – $40M SPENT ON NEW DPP OFFICE – but I have not been able to establish any other source for that citation.

Start 06:24, End 11:46

Minister West gave no citations in support of the claimed figures and I reject entirely the unstated position too often taken by our rulers that “if I say so, is so.” I gave my citations, so given that MPA is relying upon the Lease and Valuation Report for this property to challenge my citations, those documents should be published now, to “show us their workings.”

Of course, if the State was able to rent those high-quality Park Court offices at $11.55psf, I have no difficulty in accepting that as a commendable negotiation outcome, notwithstanding the other aspects which have stirred public concern on this matter.

The AG told the Standing Finance Committee of Parliament on 19th October 2023 that the Public Money spent on that property was $55,551,443.93 (at 4:49:45). Given the understandable and widespread public concerns arising from this large-scale expenditure, it would be an important step towards transparency for the MPA to issue details of how those monies were spent. The $500,000 monthly rent stated by Minister West would amount to $19.0M over the three years and two months that property was leased. The cost of the improvements and modifications has repeatedly been stated as $24M. The total of those two figures is only $43M, so I have certain concerns. I am sure that a statement clarifying those details can be quickly issued.

Finally, this entire issue of the wasted Public Money on these offices which were never occupied is rooted in the requirement for a proper Needs Assessment before committing to any Procurement. If a Needs Assessment was done in this matter, there is certainly good reason to re-examine that process to ensure that we avoid such waste in the future.

The Minister also mentioned that these details are available on the ‘Property & Real Estate portal’ at https://pmis.gov.tt/, but this as yet inaccessible to the public. Why not make the entire database readily accessible to the public, just like the EBC list?

Afra Raymond
afraraymond.net

Letter to the Editor – $55m fiasco: bring in the Fraud Squad

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) offices on Park Street, Port of Spain. The refurbished building was handed over to the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs in July 2020 by Nidco, and has remained unoccupied since. —Photo: ROBERT TAYLOR. Courtesy Trinidad Express

The Editor,

The government has now decided to end the lease of RBC’s former headquarters at Park St, claiming that a reported $55M of Public Money had been spent on that property, which the DPP never occupied as intended.

Your edition of Sunday, 22 October 2023, covered those events with Anna Ramdass’ two-page chronology entitled “A monument of waste“, your editorial “Seems we like it so!” and Noble Phillips’ provocative column “Are we all becoming Mahal?“.

Sad to say, but all of this plays to a muddled and distressing narrative of careless, poorly-managed spending of scarce Public Money, with a majority of the blame intended to settle on the DPP. The chronicle being one of a government anxious to provide proper offices for a DPP who is careless and capricious, with the government eventually making the tough choice to vacate the office it had so scrupulously procured for the DPP.

Your editorial opened with –

“…The best one might say about the $55 million wasted rent fiasco is that it appears to be a case of gross incompetence and perhaps “obstrufication” (new word? Possibly, obscurification, or simply, obfuscation.) rather than flagrant corruption…”
“Seems we like it so!” (21 October 2023). Trinidad Express

Having considered the available facts as disclosed by the PM at a public meeting on 9 March 2023 (as reported in the Trinidad Express pages on 11 March 2023) I could not agree less with your position on this matter. Indeed it is clear to me that flagrant corruption, or something very closely resembling that, was in effect in this matter.

These are the facts stated by Dr. Rowley –

Rent – These offices comprise 23,000sf leased in July 2020 at a monthly rent of $600,000, which equates to the literally incredible rate of $26psf! Very few offices in POS have ever rented for as much as even $20psf, even in the prime zones, which the corner of Park and Henry Streets is definitely not. This raises sobering questions of professional responsibility, to which I will return;
Improvements – Having paid what by any measure is record-high rent, the government then spent a reported $24M in improvements, which equates to $1,044 psf.
Terms – Republic Bank Ltd also rents space in the same ex-RBC building, but I doubt that RBL’s negotiators agreed any such record rental. What were the lease terms agreed by RBL for that space? What are the other rents paid at that ex-RBC building by other, private-sector, tenants?

I am reliably informed that this lease was agreed by the Ministry of Public Administration, on behalf of the DPP, so the question arises as to what advice informed that record rental level for an office which required a further $24M in reported improvements. Did the MPA receive professional advice before agreeing to that record rent? If not, why not? If professional advice was received, who was the adviser and what was the level of rent advised?

According to the leading learning on this issue, Public Money must be managed and accounted for to a higher standard than that applicable to Private Money, since it is raised involuntarily. That means the state must not pay rents higher than those which the private sector would consider reasonable.

Grand corruption is only possible with the complicity of qualified and respectable professionals, so this is what is at stake in this highly-questionable matter.

This is certainly a matter which should be engaging the urgent attention of our Fraud Squad, with the advice of the DPP. Eternal vigilance is imperative to safeguard the public interest at this time of scarce Public Money.