Black Immigrant Daily News

Lashings Hotel in Treasure Beach, St Elizabeth has acquired a beach club as a permanent addition to its tourism operation.

The boutique resort took over the operations of the villa suites on the beach at Old Wharf in August 2020, but a recently bought the property — with ambitious plans to refurbish and extend it.

A new restaurant and bar opened on the site last month and the owner David Folb (Folby) has planted hundreds of trees and plants, giving the property a lush tropical feel.

Each of the rooms is being decorated and updated, with a rustic Caribbean coastal theme.

Lashings Beach Club will be for members and guests only, with direct access to a private pool and a sandy cove for swimming and cookouts by the beach.

“We are in the process of totally redesigning the beach club, to make it a VIP experience but at a fraction of the cost, you would expect to pay for such a beautiful location. Renovating the property will ultimately offer a high-end exclusive beach club feel,” Folby said.

“It’s very exciting to also now be able to offer our guests a restaurant and bar on this stunning spot, alongside our already well-established and popular treetop bar in the hills.

He added that anyone staying in local villas has an automatic Lashings membership so it means this is another tourist destination to eat out in Treasure Beach.

“The Beach Club has a whole new vibe now, it’s got the classic Treasure Beach relaxed and friendly atmosphere. I’m so pleased we have been able to complete it in time for the busy winter season, we are thrilled to now have a lovely spot for guests to chill in the day and relax with a few drinks in the evening. Being so close to the Caribbean Sea is just delightful, my family and I have moved nearby and are really enjoying all the fun and atmosphere that beach life brings. We are expecting to be really busy over the coming months.”

Formerly known as Marblue, the property was built by German architect and chef Axel Wichterich and was the winner of TripAdvisor’s Travellers’ Choice Award in 2019/20, having been in operation for more than 16 years.

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Sandals Foundation Awards Cosmetology Scholarship  Valued at XCD$18,000

 Under its new three-year scholarship initiative, the Sandals Foundation has partnered with the Caribbean Academy of Cosmetology and Trichology (CACT) to award its first scholarship in the beauty and wellness sector.

This scholarship initiative is part of the Foundation’s Women Helping Others Achieve (WHOA) programme, and is one of 40 sustainable projects being implemented throughout the region as part of Sandals Resorts’ 40th anniversary celebrations, in which tourism is being used to drive positive change.

Following an islandwide call for applications in August, the scholarship committee received over a dozen applications, reviewed and conducted interviews, and on September 28th, named 19 years old Jenique Pascal its inaugural recipient.

“At the Sandals Foundation, we believe that an empowered individual has the ability to shape their own destiny. As a result, across the Caribbean, we are engaging community members in capacity building exercises and training to ensure that they have the skills and tools needed to create and plan for secure and sustainable futures,” said Natasha Burnett, Public Relations Officer at Sandals Foundation, during her address at the announcement ceremony on September 28 at Sandals Grande Antigua.

“Through this scholarship, Jenique will receive the requisite training and certification that will strengthen her position to gain employment in the field—curating an element of the special day for guests who choose to take their martial vows on this beautiful island,” Burnett added.

Kafi Samuels, Spa Manager at Sandals Grande Antigua, agreed, emphasizing the importance of formal training in the field in order to advance talent and diversify one’s portfolio.

“Because resorts cater to people with different hair textures, knowing how to treat, care for, and style those hair types, especially for their wedding day, will definitely allow you to expand your services and be more employable.”

Now, with the finances of her academic studies covered, Pascal, will this month begin a one-year intensive training certification curriculum from the globally recognized educational organization, Pivot Point, through the CACT.

She expressed her excitement and gratitude for the opportunity.

“I am ecstatic to have been chosen as the recipient of this scholarship. I’ve been interested in hairstyling since I was a child, and as a self-taught hairstylist, I’ll finally have the opportunity to hone my skills and broaden my knowledge, adding to the joy and memorable occasion for my clients on their wedding day.”

Through the Sandals Foundation’s Women Helping Others Achieve (WHOA) programme, women and girls across the Caribbean have received educational opportunities, including skills training in agriculture and information communication technology. Ladies also benefit from counselling, and mentorship enabling them to transition out of difficult, dependent and sometimes abusive situations to become independent and confidently live wholesome lives.

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Three armed bandits escaped with an undisclosed amount of cash following their early morning invasion of Kaieteur News’ location at Saffon Street, Georgetown.

The incident occurred at around 01:15hrs whilst three employees were still at the office performing duties.

Reports are that a gold Spacio motorcar, whose registration number is unknown, stopped in front of the building. The trio exited the car and entered the building through an eastern door at the bottom flat.

The three employees were held at gunpoint and the bandits placed them into an office where they were instructed to stay on the ground.

One of the suspects remained with the victims and the other two suspects proceeded to the upper flat of the building, to the Accounts Department.

The door was secured with a padlock which was wrenched off. The lock on one of the desk drawers inside the Accounts Department was also broken off.

Under the said desk had a small safe with an undisclosed amount of cash which the suspects took. The suspects spent about five minutes in the building after which they exited through the front door and escaped in the said motorcar.

In addition to the undisclosed amount cash belonging to the entity, the suspects robbed the employees of their personal cash and cellular phones.

Police said CCTV cameras attached to the building were viewed by detectives but due to the face masks that the suspects had on it was difficult to identify them.

Investigations are in progress.

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While arbitration proceedings are ongoing in the US$100 million lawsuit filed against Guyana by international company, Smart City Solutions (SCS) over the terminated parking meter project, lawyers for both sides are yet to agree on who will sit on the arbitration panel.

This was according to Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall during a recent interview with this publication.

“The arbitration process is ongoing. There are procedural matters that are being attended to by the lawyers for both sides…including finding agreement on the personnel who will sit on the arbitration panel. The parties have to comply with a number of procedural steps.”

The Mayor and City Council (M&CC) of Georgetown had entered into a contract with the Mexican company under the previous A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) Government in 2016 for the installation of parking meters in the capital city.

With the M&CC, under the then mayorship of Patricia Chase-Green and then Town Clerk Royston King, failing to implement the project, SCS is suing the Government through the Washington, DC-based International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID)—an arbitration institution established by the World Bank Group to address legal dispute resolution and conciliation between international investors and States.

At a previous sitting of the National Assembly, the Attorney General had requested GY$100 million in supplementary funds for the Legal Affairs Ministry. Of the entire sum approved by the House, $3 million, Nandlall said, will be made as a deposit towards legal fees for lawyers representing Guyana.

The law firm representing Guyana in the US$100 million lawsuit, Foley Hoag and Associates, “is of very high international standing”, Nandlall has said and is located in Washington, DC. Foley Hoag and Associates, he pointed out, “has a reputational record before tribunals of that type that would be comparable with any other law firm in any part of the world”.

This law firm is also leading Guyana’s legal team in the border dispute case with Venezuela at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Netherlands.

During his weekly programme—Issues in the News—Nandlall had explained that the record and other evidential material relating to the claim show that the circumstances and the conduct governing the execution of the parking meter project contract by members of the M&CC can attract criminal liability.

“The requisite procedures laid down in the law under the Mayor and City Council Act and regulations and bylaws were clearly not complied with. A few persons, in my humble view, committed fraud upon the Council by entering into this transaction without the requisite endorsements as mandated by law… The Criminal Investigation Department is being activated and a criminal investigation will now be launched into that matter,” he had said.

The parking meters were active in January 2017, but this was met with strong resistance from the then PPP/C Opposition, private sector bodies, and ordinary citizens, who formed an organisation called Movement Against Parking Meters (MAPM) – which went on to hold some of the largest non-political protests ever seen in the city.

Amid public pressure, the then APNU/AFC Government finally intervened and suspended the bylaws which paved the way for the implementation of metered parking, thus effectively halting the parking meter project. The project has since remained stalled.Meanwhile, in January 2018, a ‘Parking Meter Renegotiation Committee’ at City Hall proposed a reduction in the parking fee from $500 per hour to $150 per hour.

Three months later, the then City Council approved amendments to the bylaws and had even appeared before the then APNU/AFC coalition Cabinet to discuss the changes to the contract, but the then Government never gave the green light for the project to recommence.

However, a new City Council was elected later that year, and current Mayor Ubraj Narine had told this publication back in April 2019 that he was in no rush to reintroduce the initiative.

Although the contract had already been renegotiated, the Mayor also indicated that he would still need to further renegotiate with the investors before moving to reintroduce the project.

Nandlall has maintained that the parking meter project was entered into by the previous Government due to its incompetence and corrupt practises. He has promised that as long as he is Attorney General, he will ensure that Guyana receives the best legal representation at every forum because citizens “deserve no less”.

Given the serious nature of the lawsuit, the Attorney General has made it clear that the Government will not leave the incompetent Georgetown M&CC to handle the case, because should SCS win, the company can levy on the historic City Hall.

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