I read with interest your article and was disturbed by some of your comments, in particular where you state, that they should stop this pettiness and stop undervaluing and underestimating peoples hard earned property
For the record, Mr. Moise’ property includes three (3) components namely building and improvements including retaining wall, and land and they will be dealt with separately as follows:-
The land comprises of two (2) separate portions: one was purchased from Government and one he owned. The larger portion containing 2,154 square feet, he owned while the second portion of 214 square feet was purchased from Government for $756.00 or $3.53 per square foot on June 6th, 1997. As a consequence the two (2) portions (2,154 feet²+214 feet²) 2,368 square feet were valued by me at $6.50 per square foot or $15,400, while his valuer, Mr. Eugene Royer at $20 per square feet or $47,360; while on the final page of his valuation under the heading, “Comparative Costs”: he stated that one of Dominic’s leading real estate agents, Safe Haven in their latest publication of Real Estate properties for sale have listed the sale of comparable land at $5 to $8 per square foot, and other real estate agents, banks and Alick Lawrence Chambers at $4.50 to $7 per square foot. So while his valuation states $20 per square foot his research pointed overwhelmingly to a much lower figure, which was not used, why.
BELOW ARE SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS TO THIS ARTICLE
DOCUMENT 1
DOCUMENT 2
DOCUMENT 3
In a session he requested that as a justification to that problem we add his figure together with mine and divide the product by 2 ($20 + $6.50)/2 = $13.25); that was comprehensively rejected, however it provided a glimpse of Mr. Moise’ mindset.
The wall component incorporates a stone retaining wall valued by me at $15,000, however in one of the sessions Mr. Moise claimed that we had omitted a section of his wall, and he requested that we return to Soufriere’ and in his presence he indicated the length of the wall, which was measured, however it came to about the same length. In addition, Mr. Moise showed us two (2) other sections of wall forward and south of the building that was literally falling apart, and I took pictures of it because it was unsound and insecure. Mr. Moise insisted on it being used, however I stood firm and told him we can’t value a broken down wall hence the figure remained at $15,000, while his valuer used an exorbitant figure of $52,500, which included the broken sections plus god knows what.
The final component was the building; which was value by me at $150,593, while his was at $206,822, however in their valuation adequate allowance for discounting was not made for age, wear and tear since the building had very huge cracks along its structural frame, because of the onslaught from the sea, which had substantially damaged the building, and which was repaired according to Mr. Moise, yet he produced no figures for repairs, which he said were substantial in nature.
When Mr. Moise realized that he was getting no-where with the ‘Bricks and Mortar’ approach he switched gears and brought in Mr. Joseph GREGOIRE, who advised to used the Investment method, which measures the income generated as a definitive income stream, however I advised that we would have to separate the Dive Income from the rental of the building, since Government was acquiring the building and not the Dive Section, therefore he had to provide full disclosure of his books. He flatly refused to open his books for a review; however later-on after bickering an accountant reviewed the books with him at his side. The question that begs itself is why should someone change gears at the eleventh hour and then refuse to provide full disclosure, which the method seemingly dictates.
At our last meeting on January 28th January 2011, there were major disagreement with the interest rate, net earnings, and the present value factor, which the income over the period is discounted for inflation and for the decline in the purchasing power of the EC dollar, to arrive at a final value. For example, his net figures were very high, and appear to include figures from his other operations, which were categorically rejected. Secondly, the interest rate was at 15%, since it represents the difficulty and risk factor that that type of project engenders since tourism related projects are very risky and most of our banks place all sorts of restrictions on those projects, and secondly regionally and internationally, which is the main source of visitors to our country are in serious economic uncertainty.
Finally the Property Valuation Unit together with the Lands & Survey Division is required to manage the question of State Acquisitions, and from my side I will not deviate there from and will value as I see fit and not how others choose to perceive my intentions.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The writer plans to publish the same article in other “papers” so look out!
I have noticed that in a few subtle and not so subtle ways DNO has been showing biases – like for example the pictures they select to represent some people sometimes. We love this Epaper and would hate to give it up because someone there cannot or will not be objective. I beleive that the best news media give the news, not make the news. DNO, we trust you to give us the News – Not Your Opinions. Remember your readers are made up of all types even if only a few enjoy participating in the commentaries.
Was this letter written by a Senior Government Official? I actually need an interpreter with this one. No wonder some of us have no problems with students who cannot read or write in the secondary school system. And what about the protocol? Public disclosure of an ongoing negotiation?
It appears that even the University system is faulty.
Moise brought his negotiation to the Public not Government.
So as a stakeholder in the Government I applaud them taking these damn pigs to the woodshed.
Admin, I respectfully disagree with your position you took in the letter, but I totally respect your view.
What I notice is that whenever someone does not get his or her way with some negotiation or dealings with the Government, the Government automatically becomes corrupt and they get mad with the Government.
What they do not take into account is if they are telling us the truth and presenting an unbiased account.
All things work out in the end even if we d not like it
In dominica if you don’t get what you want then the gov’t bad. I am happy that the gov’t is know bringing their side to expose these ppl for what they are. GREEDY!!!!
For a long time, I have wondered how Dominicans appraise the value of property. How often have you seen houses on the market valued at $X, but have not been sold for years? What does that tell you?
In an economy as depressed as Dominica’s, one would think the value has to take into account the number of people who can afford to pay those prices that the properties are valued at. It seems to me, the property owners have an emotional attachment to their properties and think everybody else thinks the property is worth the selling price. Not so.
If the property stays on teh market for a year, it tells me that it is over-priced (as are most other properties for sale in Dominica). People do not have a realistic concept of the value of their properties.
Mr Royer why would you value a property in Soufriere for $20.00 per sq ft when value for property in areas close to the city of Roseau is less than this – $10 – $12 per sq ft.
Why Mr Royer why???
Could we get Mr Baptiste or another valuer to value the same property for comparative purposes?
If this is correct, I think Mr. Moise is being very unreasonable. I wonder if he would purchase that property at his asking price if things were reversed? Mr. Moise needs to justify his claim. You can’t just say to a government that you want X amount of money without any justification. The doctor has to come better than that.
Admin you see what i told you, be careful with what you say, i totally agree with Wilfred, that building could have never worth what the man and his family claims!!!!!
You must try to be as objective as you can possibly be if you want to continue getting high ratings.
Like i said the media must not try to mislead persons unless they have ulterior motives, like Q95 and Lennox….
It was my opinion, not a news article. And my stance remain the same. I respect Mr. Moise’s stance and I respect Mr. WD’s stance, either way, the sky will not fall if someone objects to my statement. They are free to do so.
Based on this article, i can only conclude that the “emotional value” which Dr Moise places on his property is quite high. Some may say that he is unreasonable…