Ames – Negative publicity could hurt the country

Dave Ames, chairman of Harlequin Resorts, the owners of The Buccament Bay Resort, says that he is frustrated by the ‘bad press’ that the project is receiving.{{more}}

Ames, speaking exclusively to SEARCHLIGHT last Saturday June 9, at the newly opened Jack’s Restaurant at the resort, said that the negative publicity that the resort has been receiving locally could hurt the country.

He said that most of the information is being fed to the public by individuals whom he described as ‘illegal expats’, who previously worked with the company. These people, he said, are now trying to undermine the success of the project.

“They are giving out lies about what’s happening down here.

“There is no basis for the things that these people have said, so it’s very frustrating for me that people who used to work here; they have left; they are still on the island, I would like to think probably illegally, and they are saying these things about us that’s not true, and I really have to set the record straight,” Ames stated passionately.

Disclosing that he is now a Vincentian citizen, Ames indicated that he has taken legal action against the persons responsible for the rumours which are being spread about him, his family, and his investments, in an effort to get back at him.

He denies the allegations which have been made, including claims that his company owes money in Thailand, according to blogs that are being circulated online.

“These people are in major trouble; they have no defence against me, so their only way of attacking me is by doing these blog sites.

“If it was true what they wrote on there, do you honestly think that I would still be a free man? If I am doing all these bad things, don’t you think the police would have me in jail if I was a crook?” Ames asked.

He admitted that like every other business, especially with a project of the magnitude of the one at Buccament Bay, there are issues relating to finances.

Ames said that, there are setbacks when it comes to payments to contractors, but at the end of the day, all contractors are paid for the work they complete.

“I’ve been on this island and I bought this land here over six years ago and I’ve paid everyone; there’s never been anyone who has never been paid, so my record proves for itself… all my three hundred hotel workers get paid every month.

“Don’t get me wrong, there will always be someone who argues about this or that on a bill, but all my staff get paid. In business, when you’ve got a thousand workers building and over eight hundred contractors, there’s always going to be disputes, but we honour our contracts.”

“What’s important to understand is how we work: if you’re a contractor and I ask you to build that table and chair, we have a contract together. So when you supply that, I pay you. Now if it takes you six months, or whenever it is supplied, or whatever the contract says, we honour our contracts.

“There may be money outstanding, because maybe they are late on a delivery, or maybe the quality is not right, or maybe they haven’t finished something. But at the end of the day, they get paid.

‘If I didn’t pay them, they wouldn’t still be working here, he added.

The UK born entrepreneur said that he was disappointed that the people who have been publicly speaking out against the local project have not tried to get the facts.

“If they knew the facts, these articles wouldn’t be in the paper.”

He, however, said that the majority of Vincentians are pleased with the project.

“People are recognizing locally now what a great asset this is to the country and so now people are beginning to realize what we have here.”

In Friday’s Weekend SEARCHLIGHT: Ames: Mr Eustace is more than welcome.