A ray of hope for former workers of the Jolly Beach Resort who have been put on notice that they may soon receive their long-awaited severance payments.
This after Prime Minister Gaston Browne disclosed over the weekend that the government is making progress on the sale of the derelict property, and added that the purchase of the hotel should be a done deal in less than two weeks.
“Unless something goes wrong by next weekend, certainly no later than 14 days, the purchase of Jolly Beach should be completed,” Browne said on his radio show on Saturday.
The Prime Minister also assured the former staff who have been eager to receive word on when they will receive their hard-earned money, that payments could be made from as early as this weekend, but not exceeding 14 days.
“We were told that it’s $4.9 million, so the government will be making that available to pay off all the severance for the Jolly Beach workers. So, there is now a silver lining,” Browne added.
The government recently announced that it had reached an agreement with Apple Vacations – a leisure resort company – to manage the property.
Tourism Minister Charles ‘Max’ Fernandez recently told Observer that the North American firm will manage the bookings and the property for a period once it is up and running, while repairs are being done by the State.