OVER $29.3 million was spent to refurbish the Manta Lodge & Dive Centre in Speyside Tobago, Chief Secretary Farley Augustine has announced.
Augustine made the statement as he delivered the feature address during yesterday’s official reopening ribbon-cutting ceremony.
In 2015, the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) spent $32 million on Sanctuary Villas at Black Rock and Manta Lodge in Speyside Tobago.
“Profits must be made because when we look at the fact that we spent just about $29 million in total to renovate this property, and that doesn’t count what was spent to purchase the property, it means that on average, for 20 rooms, $1.4 million dollars were spent per room,” Farley Augustine said.
Augustine, who led the ribbon-cutting ceremony, remarked that the current THA inherited a less-than-ideal investment.
“This investment is behind us and I’ll be the first to acknowledge perhaps it was not the best investment decision to purchase the hotel in the first place. But we fixed it; we finished it; we deliver it to the people of Tobago and we are saying: this is an opportunity to earn from it. And no one is happier than I am,” Augustine said.
Located in Speyside, Tobago, the 20-room Manta Lodge also boasts an in-house, PADI-approved (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) Dive Shop and Training Centre and is part of the Ascend Hotel Collection.
“While I was there in New York one of my tasks was to sit with the Elephant Tree owners and to be part of negotiations to help them attract an international brand for the Elephant Tree. And I’m happy to tell you that within a week or so, we’ll be able to publicly announce, because we do have an NDA and as soon as that NDA has expired, we’ll be able to publicly announce the return of a mega hotel brand that would be branding that very Elephant Tree hotel—which means that in the east, we would have two international brands, while in western Tobago, you’re still stuck at one,” Augustine said.
Augustine said the hotel is being managed by the Eco-Industrial Development Company of Tobago (E-IDCOT) Ltd.
“Initially it was the Executive Council’s wish that we would find a private operator to take on the operation of the hotel. And after putting it out to tender, I’m advised that none of those who placed bids passed the technical stage of the tender operation. And so we took a decision as an executive to vest this property in Eco-Industrial Development Company of Tobago (E-IDCOT) Ltd and allow E-IDCOT to manage and to operate this facility,” Augustine said.
The establishment officially opened yesterday.