Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne has told the Jamaica-based Sandals Resorts International (SRI) to consider removing its property from his country after he claimed that the luxury hotel brand, Sandals, has adopted a policy of not wanting to pay taxes.
Speaking on his weekend radio programme, Browne told listeners that Sandals, which owns the 373-room Sandals Grande Antigua, a six-star, all-inclusive, adults-only resort, owes an estimated EC$30 million (US$11.1 million) in taxes.
He said most of the taxes owed are from the Antigua and Barbuda Sales Tax (ABST) which Sandals collected for the government and was holding on to portions of the money.
“I don’t understand why these ‘so-called’ investors feel that they are the only game in town and are the only stakeholders to benefit. So they try to wring every ounce of revenue out of the business and they don’t want the government to get anything in the form of taxes,” Browne said, adding “I have been through this already with Sandals and I don’t want to go down that road with them again.”
He said while he did not want to make the issue a public matter, he was nonetheless appealing to Sandals to cooperate with the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) so as to avoid another public spat,
Browne recalled that Sandals had a recent issue with the Bahamas where it ended up having to pay “some money.”
“Everywhere they go, this is their modus operandi! Everywhere they go, there is a feeling that they don’t want to pay government taxes and that they are the ones who must extract all these profits so that they can expand.
“Well, I want to tell my dear friend, Adam Stewart, (Sandals’ executive chairman), Sandals is not the only stakeholder when you open your hotels in a Caribbean country; you have staff who deserve a good pay; you have the government who ought to get its fair share of taxes; you cannot rely exclusively on exploiting concessions and to push governments into the ground; you all need to stop it!”
Browne said that the Sandals’ model is reminiscent of the colonial period and slavery and that he is very disappointed that a Caribbean brand, which is loved and admired by the people of the region, would be engaged in the exploitation of Caribbean people.
“This is a colonialist model that does not work for the Caribbean people and Sandals needs to end this practice immediately,” Browne said on the radio programme, adding that as a beloved Caribbean brand, Sandals ought to feel proud that it is making a worthwhile contribution to the Caribbean countries within which it operates.
“You should be proud to be able to say that your workers are making a decent salary so that they could afford a mortgage, a good car etc. It’s not about you expanding while others are suffering.
“We can’t even attract workers to the hotels sector because of the low wages, while you are making tens of millions of dollars each year out of each of these small economies and every time there is an assessment, you come with all kinds of reasons why you should not be paying.
“I’m tired of it. If this is going to be your attitude going forward where only Sandals benefits, then take your hotel elsewhere; and I am very serious,” Prime Minister Browne said, reiterating that he does not want another public spat with the hotel.
SRI has not responded to Browne’s accusations, who also noted that he was ‘shocked’ when he was told that the hotel was not cooperating with the IRD.
He said the issue with Sandals is not an Antigua and Barbuda problem, but a Caribbean problem, as the company’s policies throughout the region are the same everywhere. (CMC)
