Chaguaramas: stillborn?

And that is what we are seeing again. A change of government induces the firing of scores of corporate boards, managers and advertising agencies, and replacing everyone with “our” families, friends and financiers.

Law suits are instituted back and forth between the fired and the fire--ers, these for resolution sometime around 2020; and the State fortuitously drops charges against some so previously inflicted by the then outgoing.

So is it any wonder that a State Institution like the Chaguaramas Development Authority exists in a condition of confused foundering to survive, with occasional gasps at hopeless dreams. We are going through some of those hopeless gasps again, as the CDA’s new Board will be bringing charges against those dismissed, existing contracts are being revoked and New Plans are being hurriedly rolled out to demonstrate our New Vision. Hello? Some of what they are claiming as vision I consider to be hallucination.

For starters, how can anyone even consider new investment without a workable plan and schedule to solve the traffic issues? Then who is the person or persons that decided that the old satellite tracking station is a hotel site? As far as I can see, that location is neither fish nor fowl in the tourism mix. What is the proposed developer (we have one?) proposing to offer? The only beach is Macqueripe Bay, in excess of walking distance away.

There are no complementary amenities. The surrounding forest may be attractive to birders and naturalists, but after that there is nothing but a beautiful view out over the ocean. Most Eco-Tourists who visit our shores tour not only their immediate surrounds but our other wonders as well. How can you hope to drive to Caroni Bird Sanctuary, Nariva Swamp, Asa Wright, Aripo Savannahs and the like when the western main road is totally clogged with traffic? Of course, one of the ironies in this hotel proposal is that it is in conflict with the law, as defined in the Chaguaramas Development Plan 1974.

Strange that the government suddenly did not know this, especially since just two weeks earlier they were revoking contracts awarded by the UNC , claiming that those awards were in defiance of the CDP 1974? Anyway that is the sort of chronic hypocrisy to which we have become accustomed and comfortable.

We will wait to see how this all plays out. Will we find an investor for Tracking Station? What will it cost us if we do? What promises will we provide concerning transport in and out? And the CDA just sputters on, and then drops into its ongoing coma while the yachting industry dies from bureaucracy and neglect. Rival and more service-- friendly facilities are being installed in all of the islands and soon our industry here, once so vibrant and employing many local skills, will die of bureaucratic suffocation and the effects of violent crime.

We still seek, whether in Chaguaramas or Buccoo, mega hotels to be deposited in underdeveloped infrastructure, while the existing hotel room stock remains totally undersold and underutilized. The people who come to Sandals or Tracking Station will not leave their enclaves to visit True Trinidad and Tobago.

Why can’t we understand that the investment currently needed in our tourism is to let the world know we are here, with many small charming hotels and restaurants already in existence? When these rooms are filled and people are coming here and enjoying what we have, not Bahamas Atlantis type magic castles, then we can encourage bigger hotels to come.

Before we consider a new resort hotel, a water park, or any other “attractions”, the transport and access issue—the highway to Chaguaramas-- must be in place or at least underway.

The gross inconvenience to residents of the area and critical issue of public safety on the peninsula demand that a proper access and exit system be in place.

But round and round we go, and the northwest peninsula stagnates because we as a people simply have no vision and no desire to invest in our own opportunities, so we need to call in Sandals. And of course, because we need to fear that when the next election comes, our investment can be cancelled? New opportunities are being shared in Chaguaramas once again, and the nation watches as promises and favours are tossed out without any forethought or consultation?