Marigot businessman Kevin Gordon said residents of the north east of the island are not happy with an announcement by government to relocate a major hotel project to Portsmouth.
Government announced plans to construct a major hotel in Marigot but Tourism Minister Ian Douglas recently said that Cabrits may be the best location for the proposed hotel.
“We have been promised that hotel and the people in the north east were looking forward to that. A lot of people are out of work in that area and they are now saddened about the announcement,” he said.
According to Gordon, Portsmouth already has a lot of development.
“We had a meeting with the MP for Wesley on that basis and she did not give us much hope. We are appealing to the government to bring the project in Marigot because there are a lot of things happening in Portsmouth. This would be a good project for Marigot,” he added.
He said he is hoping that government will change its mind.
“Government has spent several millions of dollars in lighting of the airport and modernizing the environment. I think the hotel will just be an added feature,” he said.
where is the integrated development strategy and plan?. where is accountability and transparency through the participatory process? where are the community driven and community lead projects we speak so proudly of on the airwaves? where are the people involement in the development process? According to a phraze favorite of the Senior Council that is “all’ hog wash coming from” the government. It is a real shame that we have all this back and forth comments on this project. Were the people involved?and if so why the almost overnight decision to change the location. in the first place are there stats to show the viability of the project etc. I travel to places where whenever there is a major project for an area there are consultations held, there is a model of the project posted on a bill board depicting the end product of the project, the design etc. to this end nothinfg like that happens in Dominica. For example the bridge being constructed by the Roseau market for instance should have a public display as to how it will look when it is completed – what the distribution of traffic is going to be etc etc …but alas not in Dominica — it is just pathetic
You got that right.
Dominicans, let not your hearts be troubled, the hotel in Marigot and Night landing will come together.
do we really need a whole big damn hotel for overnights please Dominicans get smarter please you all are small minded that why the country going down that way. labour or workers who cares who can stay in marigot in a hotel when it has no night life nothing to attract tourist ? you people always amaze me. I travel alot and trust me when tourist touch down its not for being bored its for fun fun fun plus Portsmouth have cruise ship coming in all the time this is what new comers want to see so they can actually take a flight and come to spend some time in this bloody place come on people open you all eyes and see the future please man am really tired of seeing my people acting so illiterate shat
ill toast to that
so don’t think that tourist when they come from the airport that they don’t want to have to drive hours to a hotel and as u said is for overnight person’s. And if they are action crave they can take the same drive down there or go Roseau. So don’t beleive in development ? If people are there for the area to have a night life to be developed then beleive me some person’s will step up and do something. It is all about making a first move and this well then develop the area around the airport. Also the fact of person’s that are out of jobs, it will give jobs. Portsmouth has alot goin on for it already.
U are too dawn ONE SIDED and give other villages a chance to develop.
Well I am a tourist when I travel overseas and I agree with this person on this one. I’d travel to where the party is. And why you all complaining anyway? That only mean more money for taxi drivers. I wasn’t sure about the location but Portsmouth starting to sound perfect. And it’s not a long drive, it’s actually short. Tourists are accustomed to 100m journeys. I know I am
No, it’s to get a decent nights sleep at an affordable rate and avoid the winding trip to the airport at 4am and arrive sick.
No one came up to at least give thanks when it was announced that the Hotel was going to located at Marigot, all I heard was negative talk, now the crabs coming out because rain falling by their holes.Hypocrites!!
No Politics…….
All this bickering over one airport hotel and the functional word here is AIRPORT. this hotel as i take it is not so much about sea and sand but about accomodating the influx of overnighting visitors and facilitating a short transit to the airport to catch an early flight. for those of us who have traveled extensively we can appreciate the benefits of being able to stay close to the airport in between flights. accomodation in the immediate vicinity of the airport is an important factor if we expect any major airline to consider dominica as a hub. that being said, why the fight over one hotel? why not make calls to have another hotel built in Portsmouth?
this hotel must not be the only hotel development attracted to our shores. the call must not be for the Morrocans to build their hotel in this or that location it must be for them to build more hotels, it must be for other hotel developers to build more hotels in Portsmouth, Roseau and all over. but we must understand that in order to pull in such high end investment we have to be able to offer a complete tourism package.
the way i see it, portsmouth not quite ready yet either. we have very little to keep tourist entertained and that’s a fact. and so even if we build a ten room hotel in cabrits most likely it well never be fully occupied, why? because there is not much to do, there’s very little to offer.
Big Papa’s is just not enough to entertain the whole lot of tourist that we would like to have or that the international hoteliers would see worth the investment to build hotels for. we have to start looking at more entertainment Casinos, Clubs, a cultural village in the vicinity of the Cabrits Which would come alive not just around independence but every night. we would be able to employ local artists full time while give tourists something to truly look forward to. i know we promote ourselves as an eco-tourism destination but one can hardly go without the other; a vibrant night scene is as essential to the tourist business as are world class restaurants, five star hotels, quality shopping and breath taking sceneries. the sceneries we have but what about the rest?
so in essence the fight here over something as trivial as Portsmouth or Marigot for the Airport Hotel is no more than wasted effort, instead, let’s call on our tourism minister to go out there and look at ways to improve our tourism product, attract more hotels for Portsmouth and let the Airport Hotel for Marigot be. in fact, after he puts it in Portsmouth he won’t know what to do with it unless his bigger picture is to improve accomodation for spanish and hatian.
The best place to build this hotel is in the beautiful ” Village of Calibishie ” No need to argue whether it`s Portsmouth or Marigot because Calibishie without a doubt is the number 1 spot for tourist, and it`s only a 15 minute drive from the airport.
A word of advice to my family and friends in Marigot,don`t always wait for Government to do everything for you,learn to help yourselves.
Best Place to build this hotel is in the beautiful village of Calibishie ,only a 15 minute drive from the airport. It`s the number one spot for tourist anyway… No need to argue back and forth about Possie or Marigot, this is the solution By the way Marigot ppl finally beginning to realise how much they need the very ” Man ” they love to hate..
if Edison wanted the hotel in Marigot , then he should help goverment move the squatters from the Melville Hall Estate, that was the intended location for the Hotel, however when they goverment decided to move those squartters, Edison was the first person to take them to Roseau to G.H.Q to demonstrate in the office of the minister of lands………Reggie Austrie; the goverment made numerous effots get the squartters to vacate the property at the melville hall estate so that they could start construction of the Hotel , but Edison instructed them not to vacate the land so the Goverment had no choice but to relocate the Hotel to another part of the island and fortunately they found an ideal location in Portsmouth.
It was not meant to be an airport hotel, they called it by that name initially because it was to be located near the airport. But the truth is if we are to realize any serious developement in Dominica, then we must look at Portsmouth, this place got all what it takes too help Dominica move forward, therefore I would urge everyone to look at the big picture and stop making the location for the construction of the Hotel a political issue……cus at the end of the day it will be built in Dominica and that’s what really matters . nPortsmouth got the beach, it got the national park and other national tourism attributes, it got the social life for visitors, it got the natural habour and water ways, it got the human resource trained in tourism related activites, it got the resturants for people to go eat out…………………and the list goes on and on and on…………..
So people lets work with the goverment and get this piece of investment going for the sake of Dominica………..we support the construction of the hotel in Portsmouth.
sorry but your common sense needs alot of dusting out…you a BIG JOKER!
Don`t worry, when its done we will just call it WHITE ELEPHANT
Most tourist just love the north east so our little hotels up here will be full while your WHITE ELEPHANT will stay epmty.
Just another Confirmation how backwards and lack of vision Dominicans are what a shame thats why no high end investor will ever dream of Dominica as a success story…wow
lets think…who made the call about the hotel isnt in the Prime Minister speaking about distance,and crew overnighting etc….wow how do dominicans think.wow..
If this Regime was a Proffessional institution and there was a development plan like the IDP etc
the destiny for this Project would be drinking a glass of water..but again when you have kids running around playing with toys…these type of confusion and lack of be open and accountabilty will always pop up..
Im from Marigot and could care less to where the build the Hotel they could even put it on Noble and Mars just off the shoreline of runway 27 strip at Melville Hall or place in at Capt Bruce.
This Corrupted Labour Party Regime is a Total Waste substance in my view and must be told so Boldly…….
See how Labour Dislike Marigot where im from..they have the few surporters there feeling the pinch daily some need homes they got wet, caught colds and fever even sleep with their Red caps and T-shirts on thats shows you their commitment to Labour and absoutely nothing…
The Village Council along with the Parl Rep have submitted on count at least in the first instance five projects to the Government….the illegal Prime Minister visited many of those concern areas in 2008…with his team they had meetings with MDC and nothing at all…even though we will Confess and Confirm it at the POLLS THAT LABOUR WILL NEVER EVEN DREAM OF WINING MARIGOT..
Thats our Right as Citizens of the Commonwealth of Dominica we pay taxes and contribute to SS and extremly law abiding and Sincerly God Fearing Village we deserve Better from this Corrupted Regime…..
We get along very well with all sides here in Marigot…the Parl Rep of Portsmouth Mr.Ian Douglas is a very Good Friend of Marigot,so we dont have beaf with rest of Dominicans…
We just speak our minds and stand for truth and justice…and dont settle for handout of slavery aspects and surport Corrupted Practices as these elements lead to excessive crime,drugs and Death…
Fats my Boy….take my silly advice you and i from Marigot please understand that Labour isnt interested in Marigot when will you learn how things are in Dominica under this Corrupted Regime
You should never Bark as nothing under the Labour Regime is nothing to get elated about…
Just keep on doing you work in the field that you qualify for please!!
come join back the Blue team which you enjoyed so much work under in the village of 95-00
You are a smart Bro….please think deeply and stay with you homegrown Blue!!
Red will continue to spin and break you…by the way would be nice if our Senator would atleast
say…just the word “Marigot” as he is always speechless and should have voiced his sentiment
seeing he is seeking to be the Parl Rep…of Marigot…..haha…maybe a Marigot in St.Maarten..
What is the use of an airport hotel is its not close to the airport. Build the hotel in Marigot. There are lots of hotels which are not located on a beach. Marigot needs it… THey need to stop making this into a political football… it’s for the convenience of air travelers. Doesn’t make any sense to trek all the way to P’mouth late night and have to leave early morning. THat will also help alot of people from across DOminica who won’t have to rush to the airport on the same day. THey can spend a night in the hotel and catch their flight the next morning. Dominicans need to see the big picture. I bet the plea was made to the Moroccans on the fact that the hotel would support the airport (accomodations, etc). Ian Douglas needs to chill and venture outside DOminica to get projects for Portsmouth – a palce with way more potential than Marigot.
first of all every body are free to vote who the hell they want to, every body cannot vote labour nor uwp
that’s y it have an opposition in the first place
no body cannot tell me were to vote i will vote labour
when ever workers tell me they going to put duty free port they will get my full attention
but for now i cool
and Cabrits is just not a place for a hotel
we all know no ones perfect
like i always say UWP must start to say what they will do n not what they wouldn’t do
we wouldn’t do this n we wouldn’t do that
So what the hell you guys would do
and we must stop hating on the opposition is dem that keeping our eyes open the place would be really messed up without an opposition
The airport should be buit in marigot. That is exactly why the night landing is put in place. The only reason why it may not be built there is because of petty politricks. It is a tit for tat. When are we all going to grow up. A saying my sister uses goes , act your age. The polictrictions are acting like teenagers. I am taking my revenge now. Yes the sea in marigot is ruff. God made it so. However, it is a beautiful view there, next ot a lushers rivers. The ruff seas is ideal for the surffers. Do not hate just appreciate.
that would be a plus for the marigot area,being so close to the airport. alot of visitors complain about the long drive from the airport to town. with so many corners many people get sick,
Why Portsmouth? shouldn’t the hotel be next to the airport to accommodate persons having to spend the night and taking flight early the next day…… Most countries with international airports or night landing have atleast 1 hotel near them…………. but then again we always extra. :
According to Gordon, Portsmouth already has a lot of development.
Yeah Right, please say this to Ashton Rivirere….The man peppered Ian recently and say Portmouth has nothing
hahahahahahahahaha
i can already see that hotel in portsmouth, right next to the purple turtle beach. it has a strong feeling of st maarten. (holiday, fun . fun fun )maybe then, the guys who tried and failed to operate watersports equipment on that beach can kick off.
the beach will kick off, the town will kick off and perhaps even dominica will kick off
“things of this nature will always create confusion,we need to realize whether we want to develop portsmouth or Marigot is irrelevant,cause these two areas are in Dominica. At the end of the day We love to see Dominica develop,So its only best that the plans for the hotel in Marigot not push aside but allocate the necessary funds to do it, Dominica is ours, it doesn’t belong to no politician or individual person,no need to bring down one another so we could climb on top, and at the end nothing good comes out of that”
Dominicans like to make a force about everything,,even if the hotel is built in Portsmouth.. People of Marigot and surrounding areas can still go to work at the airport in Portsmouth..The hotel being built in Portsmouth doesn’t mean that only Portsmouth people are gonna get jobs at the hotel..Don’t we all travel to work every day..whether it’s take the bus, or drive ourselves to work,,
At the end of the day we are all gonna benefit from this hotel, whether it’s directly or indirectly..
I am just anxious to see my beautiful country developed..
We need to stop making a big deal out of everything..Most of the caribbean countries are ahead of us in terms of development..We all need to come together as one for the benefit of our country..
This hotel should pave the way for improving the road from Marigot to Portsmouth.
This hotel will not be the ordinary hotel it will be from a franchsie, and trust me marigot is not the place for that. 1. the sea in marigot is wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy to rough 2. where is the beach for them tourist to lie and take a tan.3.Possie is the ideal place for the hotel since the beach is there shopping and all that. I dont think its a political one to move it to possie but better economic sense
Come on ppl let’s get real!!! The sea side on the east is to eye candy enough the sea rough and constant sea brezze gonna batter the hotel. Much less for hurricanes.. Possie is a much better location and what stopping the marigot ppl going to possie to apply for the job? A 20 min drive or less. Mr man marigot don’t have enough weather and eye candy sorry. Just tell ur pols head to possie and apply like every other Dominican that would be given a chance to apply.
i am not from possie but i support the hotel being built in possie. when will mari-goat people understand how politics work. by far possie is a better choice. we need to finish developing possie and thats just what we will do. mair-goat people need to stop voting like goats then and only then will the see economic development. in the mean time let edo and crew source funds to build u a hotel. the name airport hotel doesent mean that it has to be in marigot. possie is close enough.
All u late. They start breaking down the old buildings just before cabrits already. What is the big issue about where the hotel is built?
Well Aston Rivere comments doing things….Good Job Councilor
We gave you all 2 chances to put labor in power and both times all u refuse. And now all u want to tell us where to build our hotel. Go make Eddison build one. We will build our hotel where we think is better.
kevin is one of us a labourite ,i know him well
because he stupid lke u to vote for labour with leaders that do not have the country at heart
the sea on that side off the island is so ruff most the times u cant sell hotel rooms with no beaches
but am not gonna sit here and tell u dont build it there do i think the new airport and hotel should be in portsmouth the potential is there to build up there,am not saying this because am from portsmouth.Any thing built in dominica is for us all those days for town better than country are gone
so if it have to be i will not say dont build it up there just make sure when its done it cant be used
Tell them!!
stup[id so much hotel that is built far away from beaches they could go to wood ford hill beach shut up u have no sense
The hotel is going to built in possie. Get that throught your hardpan. Don’t you all think of this when you voted in the bi-eleaction? It is human nature, though it may not be moral. One would be more inclined to assist those who assist them. The northerners have been key supporters for years and the people of portsmouth are crying about representation so they have to react.I will get a lot of vitriol for this but this is how things go. Even after they had 16 seats and there was no way voting the other way would change things you played “mouton batalie” and voted against them. I am not saying it is right but they will through you out of the land at Melville Hall and you will get no hotel. I scratch your back and you scratch mine. When UWP win in 2080 you all will get the hotel. At least you will get some satisfaction, if you are around to see it, because you said you are doing what you are doing for generations to come.
so u saying it’s all about who vote 4 u,,,, well that’s not a gov’t for the people,,,, by my understanding u imply that the hotel being built in possie is also cuz of the cries of those constituents,,,so in order to hush them up,,,,build them a hotel,,,,, that’s how it is in dominica,,,, hhhmmm that’s why workers fey barghai tout pas tout,,,,, it did not have preference,,,, i don’t see possie dropping labour no time soon n same for marigot with workers,,,,,,, but i believe wat u said,,, i just think it’s just sad that this is wat it is in the land,,,,,
what is preventing it from being in marigot? that where it have to be, that is more economic sense,anything else would be political bullshit, this will decide which level we going up or down i hope is up. lets move Dominica foward.
NUMBER ONE, IF ITS AN AIRPORT HOTEL I BELIEVE IT SHOULD BE IN THE MARIGOT AREA ONCE THERE IS AN IDEAL LOCATION 4 IT, I ALSO AGREE WITH MR GORDON, THAT PORTSMOUTH IS ALREADY DEVELOPED! YES THERE IS SPACE FOR IMPROVEMENT BUT HAVING THE HOTEL IN MARIGOT WOULD BE AN ADDED ASSET TO THE COMMUNITY & OUR COUNTRY
possie is already developed??????
It is was intended to ba an Airport hotel, but this has since been changed to jus a Hotel.
I just cannot understand how our people cannot see things in black and white… Geeeze man this is becoming an embarrassment!
The Govt is entitle to changing their minds if after feasilbilty and other studies suggest they do, what is the force??
MR. GOIRDON PLEASE BUILD YOUR OWN HOTEL IN THE AREA, IF YOU ARE A BUSINESSMAN THEN INVEST YOUR MONEY MAN!!!
We always want people to do things for us.