Reports out of Cap
Juluca, in the meantime, paint a very disturbing picture of
the employment situation. It appears that the owner, Mr.
Friedland and GENCOM, even before GENCOM has succeeded in
reaching agreement with the Government, have begun to
unleash a full scale attack on the Anguillian and Caribbean
management and staff of the Resort. They have fired Resident
Manager (and Acting General Manager for a period during the
present crisis), Mrs. Gillian Bradshaw. They have pressured
a number of other senior and middle managers, forcing them
to resign. There should be little doubt about their
objectives. They appear to be to get rid of the top
Anguillian management of Cap Juluca and to oppress and
suppress the Anguillian and Caribbean staff, who have made
Cap Juluca into the highly acclaimed resort it is today, in
spite of the gross neglect of its physical facilities over
the years.
ANTIL is shocked at the lack of a meaningful response by the
Anguilla Government to the attacks on Cap Juluca’s
employees, and in particular the non-response of the
Minister, Permanent Secretary and Commissioner of Labour. On
the other hand, the Minister of Labour has been quick to
renew the work permit of Mr. Ricardo Perez as Financial
Controller at Cap Juluca, a man who is dedicated to fighting
against the interest of Anguillians and to facilitating
foreign oppression of Anguillian and Caribbean employees at
Cap Juluca.
ANTIL believes that it is not too late for the Government to
take a stand in support of Cap Juluca’s local and regional
employees. In so doing it would demonstrate its commitment
to ensuring that the interest of the people of Anguilla is
served in the settlement of the Cap Juluca issue. No one has
more to lose than Cap Juluca’s employees and their
dependents. ANTIL calls on the Chief Minister and Minister
of Labour to look into the attacks and threats being
suffered by Cap Juluca’s employees and rise to protect and
defend them. It is the ethical thing to do.
ANTIL is more determined than ever to struggle and advocate
on behalf of the people of Anguilla and continues to lobby
strongly with the Government of Anguilla to ensure that the
settlement of the Cap Juluca issue is in the best interest
of the people of Anguilla.
ANTIL wishes to reaffirm its full support for the five
principal conditions established by the Government for the
sale of Cap Juluca. They are:
- Preservation of the Cap Juluca brand;
- A substantial equity stake by Anguillians in the
company that acquires Cap Juluca;
- Additional rooms in the project site to be limited
to a maximum of 200;
- The Cove dune and Cove Pond to be excluded from the
lease and returned to the Government for the development
of a national park;
- The owner, Mr. Friedland to fully divest himself of
any equity interest in Cap Juluca.
ANTIL wishes further to emphasize that along with its
partner Auberge-Firesky that their proposal for Cap Juluca,
which is fully consistent with the Government’s conditions,
remains on the table for the Government to consider. This
proposal goes much further than the Government’s conditions.
ANTIL and Auberge-Firesky have committed to retaining all of
Cap Juluca’s existing Anguillian and Caribbean management
and staff, thereby protecting and ensuring the stability of
their employment. They have also committed to paying a
gratuity of US$1,000,000.00 (One million US Dollars) to the
management and staff on the successful closing of the
purchase of Cap Juluca and to allocating 15% of distributed
profits in the future for the benefit of staff. ANTIL also
wishes to draw attention to the fact that the people of
Anguilla would hold 34% of the equity in the joint venture
with Auberge-Firesky that would own Cap Juluca and for a
maximum price of approximately US$15.0 million.
As a Company committed to the economic empowerment of the
people of Anguilla in the tourism industry, ANTIL once again
calls on the Government to stand by its own policy and to
ensure that its five conditions form the foundation of any
agreement it reaches with GENCOM for the purchase of Cap
Juluca. ANTIL further calls on the Government and the
Minister of Labour in particular to take a firm stand to
protect Cap Juluca’s Anguillian and Caribbean management and
staff against the attacks, suppression and oppression of Mr.
Friedland and GENCOM.
ANTIL calls on the Government, in light of its five
conditions for the sale of Cap Juluca to stand firm, to
uphold its principles in negotiating with GENCOM and to
withhold agreement so long as GENCOM does not accept nor
commits to abiding by those principles. In light of the
oppressive behaviour of Mr. Friedland and GENCOM towards the
Anguillian and Caribbean management and staff ANTIL also
calls on the Government to insist that Mr. Friedland and
GENCOM abandon their attacks on Cap Juluca’s employees. |
