GRENADA-TOURISM- Kawana Bay developers say amicable settlement remains open

ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada, CMC – The developers of the 146-room Kimpton Kawana Bay hotel project said Monday that while an amiable settlement remains open, the “extensive damage to the project caused by the actions of the former government administration in Grenada has severely complicated and handicapped the efforts towards a settlement.”

Prime Minister Dickson Mitchell said his new administration, which came to office in June last year, is open to negotiating a settlement with the developers with a view to the project being completed.

“Unfortunately, the extensive damage to the project caused by the actions of the former government administration in Grenada has severely complicated and handicapped the efforts towards settlement. We welcome the Prime Minister’s statement and remain open to the possibility of an amicable settlement in the interest of all stakeholders,” the developers said in a statement posted on the website.

They are owned and developed by True Blue Development, whose major shareholder is a former ambassador at large to Grenada, Warren Newfield. The now incomplete tourism project on Grand Anse beach is a Citizenship by Investment (CBI) approved scheme.

Under the CBI program, Grenada provides citizenship to a foreign investor in return for making a substantial investment in the island’s socio-economic development.

The resort was due to open in late 2021 and is operated by one of the world’s leading boutique hotel operators, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, part of the Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG)).

But the developers last year filed a complaint with the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment (ICSID). The Washington-based ICSID is an arm of the World Bank devoted to resolving international investment disputes against sovereign states.

According to the developer, the arbitration was filed because the previous Government had unilaterally imposed a limitation on using CBI funds for the construction costs of the hotel.

“On July 1, 2022, we filed our Memorial on the Merits, setting out the details of our claim with supporting expert reports. The Government of Grenada would have been required to file its response as a Counter-Memorial by December 2022 but forestalled this on November 1, 2022, by making a preliminary application objecting to ICSID’s jurisdiction and seeking to bifurcate those jurisdictional objections into a separate phase.

“On December 28, 2022, we filed a comprehensive response disputing the Government’s objection. At this juncture, the tribunal may either make a ruling on the matter or conduct a hearing on whether to bifurcate the dispute.

“If a hearing is scheduled, we anticipate it will be held on or about April 2023; however, if the Tribunal elects to make a ruling, the Government’s preliminary application may be determined in the next few months (if not sooner),” said the statement by the developers, which acknowledged the change in Government last June.

“We continue to take prudent steps to move the arbitration proceedings forward as efficiently as the circumstances permit. We are aware that in the ordinary course, the international arbitration proceedings may span into 2024. However, we maintain a cautiously optimistic outlook that 2023 may bring a positive and final outcome,” the statement added, thanking purchasers and stakeholders of the projects.

In 2021, Newfield resigned as an Ambassador-at-Large and Consul General to the Government of Grenada, citing anti-business policies as the reason behind his decision.