A better solution
Today’s news that the owners of Caravanserai are pushing on with their US $25 million expansion plan is most welcome. The expansion to more than 200 rooms will qualify the resort for a hotel casino licence.
While there was a casino on the premises before, it was considered a stand-alone casino, for which there is a moratorium in place, and the owner of Dolphin Casino was allowed to move it to Simpson Bay.
The company that now wants to operate a casino called “Dunes” at Caravanserai is locked in a court battle with government over the denial of its request for a new permit which was originally approved by the Executive Council, but that decision was annulled by the Governor.
There is no doubt that questions can be raised when it comes to the manner in which government first promised the current owners a casino licence if they agreed to take over and renovate the then-abandoned resort, then allowed the casino operator to move elsewhere with the licence.
But the problem can best be solved with the expansion, which automatically qualifies the resort for a hotel casino licence, while maintaining the ceiling on stand-alone casinos adopted by the Island Council. At the same time the resort will have more units, which should increase its profitability.
Under the circumstances, it would seem government has at least a moral obligation to cooperate with the resort’s expansion plans. A demolition permit was given, but the planning permit is pending because of objections from Princess Juliana International Airport against the planned height of the building next to the runway out of flight safety considerations.
The federal department of aviation, however, has approved the plans and the resort presented its case to the Island Territory’s Committee of Experts on July 7. Hopefully the matter can be resolved quickly, so that the expansion may continue and the local investors who at the time stuck their neck out by taking over an empty resort have the opportunity to make it work.
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