By Kenicia Francis
Information Minister Melford Nicholas is the latest government official who has refused to disclose who’s responsible for demolishing Peter Kelsick’s Sneaky Pete’s beach bar at Halcyon Cove.
When asked during the post Cabinet press briefing on Friday, Nicholas responded: “We have certainly asked Royalton Chic to address this matter publicly. I believe from there the media and the public will get more clarity on this particular issue.”
The Information Minister then echoed similar sentiments shared by Prime Minister Gaston Browne, saying: “Clearly, anyone looking at this particular issue without a jaundiced view would come to the conclusion that the ramshackled facilities that were there, does not comport with the amenities that will now be provided by a redeveloped hotel. We are speaking about a hotel that has the capacity of employing more than 600 persons as opposed to a sole trader.”
He described the situation as “unbalanced in terms of how one would want to look at that, without having to introduce the normal things that target people’s emotions about race and foreign direct investment,” insinuating that a preference to promote members of one’s race and opposing foreign investments because of a preference for local vendors are tools being used to target people’s emotions to gain their favour.
“Without reference to those, it should be clear that the benefits that spin after the taxes and to employment and to the general overall attractiveness of Antigua’s jurisdiction for tourism which is our main breadwinner,” he continued.
In the wake of Kelsick threatening legal action, Nicholas stated that “one would expect especially because Sneaky Pete’s was neither paying taxes, rental, or lease arrangements for the piece of land that he was occupying, that the sensible thing for him to do is stand down. I think the rest is going to be left to the judgment.“
On Tuesday, after Kelsick’s bar was torn down the previous night, Observer reached out to the Minister of Housing and the DCA Maria Browne, the Chief Town and Country Planner Frederick Southwell, and the Deputy Town and Country Planner Clement Antonio for comment, but still hasn’t received any responses up to press time on Friday.
On Wednesday, our newsroom contacted Prime Minister Gaston Browne directly to get an official answer, but he replied with a post on Facebook discrediting Kelsick’s character and minimising his role in the situation.