Truth about Harlequin will soon be revealed – Opposition Leader

The truth behind the Buccament Bay Resort will soon be revealed.

Leader of the Opposition Arnhim Eustace made the comment as he read a press statement to members of the media Wednesday.{{more}} He was speaking in relation to recent developments, where journalists from the BBC who have been investigating a story about Harlequin Hotels and Resorts have said that allegations have been made that Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves accepted a bribe from Harlequin Hotels and Resorts Chairman David Ames.

“Nonetheless, this matter, which is still unfolding, and in respect of which I expect that there shall be further developments, is significant to the people of St Vincent and the Grenadines,” Eustace said.

He encouraged all to be calm and continued saying that the truth will come out.

“I am informed that the BBC’s ‘Panorama’ programme on Harlequin and the Prime Minister is scheduled to air in March,” the Leader of the Opposition said.

The Buccament Bay Resort and David Ames, owner and chairman of Harlequin Resorts, have had a troubled history; starting with labour and land ownership disputes, litigation by investors and arrears to vendors, Eustace said.

“I have on many occasions publicly called upon the project to honour its debts to local contractors and workers, with little success,” he continued.

The most recent challenge has been the bribery allegation against the Prime Minister, which, according to Eustace, has caused Vincentians at home and in the diaspora to be uneasy.

He listed some facts about the project, including that back in January this year, the United Kingdom’s Financial Services Authority issued an alert to British investors in Harlequin advising that there will be no financial assistance by the British government in respect of losses from their investments.

Eustace added that he was in receipt of a copy of submissions to the UK’s Serious Fraud Office, which according to him was investigating the project.

The Opposition Leader, however, said that he would say more about this at a later date, as this was a developing matter.

He further explained that he was contacted on February 12 by the BBC “in the persons of an investigative team working with that institution’s ‘Panorama’ programme” and requested to do an interview, to which he said he consented and on February 13, he was interviewed at his home.

“While the cameras rolled, Mr Paul Kenyon of the BBC put to me allegations that Prime Minister Gonsalves received substantial bribes from Dave Ames and sought my response to these allegations, if they were discovered to be true,” Eustace told members of the media.

He said that in his response, he indicated that if the allegations were true, that the Prime Minister would have to demit office.

Eustace said that he was further advised that on February 14, a UK based lawyer from the Regulatory Legal Solicitors, acting for a number of UK investors in the Buccament Bay project, had come here to ascertain the situation as it pertains to the resort and to further investigate the land title as it related to the resort.

“I am further advised that all options – including an international freezing order, the effect of which would be to halt the operation of the Buccama Resort – remain on the table for the UK investors he represents,” Eustace said.

He charged that the Prime Minister has been calling into radio programmes from Haiti and stating and or insinuating that in his interview, he alleged that he (Gonsalves) had accepted a bribe and that the allegations were made because he (Eustace) judged him by his own standards and that the allegations were generated and/or orchestrated by the New Democratic Party.

But Eustace again denied that he alleged that the Prime Minister had accepted a bribe from Ames.

He added that the Prime Minister implied that he [Eustace] may have in the past accepted or would in the future accept or

be inclined to accept a bribe.

“The very suggestion is plainly untrue and ironically libellous; however, I do judge the Prime Minister by my own standards; I, therefore, shall assume him to be innocent until such time as he is proven otherwise,” Eustace said.

He also said that it was unacceptable and an incredible claim that the NDP could any more dictate to the BBC than the BBC could dictate to the NDP – this was in response to the prime Minister’s claim that the allegations were orchestrated by the opposition.

On Sunday, Gonsalves called into WE FM and stated that he had been accosted by two BBC journalists while making his way to the CARICOM Heads of Government inter-sessional meeting in Haiti. He said they questioned him about accepting bribes from Ames. (DD)