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Residents ?disappointed? with postponed hotel renovation
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Residents ?disappointed? with postponed hotel renovation
The renovation works of Trou-aux-Biches hotel have been postponed? again! While it had been confirmed that the closure of the hotel would occur on 5th May, the management has recently decided to wait after the next peak season before starting the works because of ?unexpected administrative delays?. The hotel is now expected to close down on 15th January 2009.
The inhabitants and ?forces vives? of Trou-aux-Biches held a press conference yesterday to state their disappointment with this delay. ?We are the true inhabitants of Trou-aux-Biches. The inhabitants of Morcellement Jhuboo present themselves as the ?forces vives? but they are only 23 people. They don?t even know what we, the inhabitants of Trou-aux-Biches and its surroundings, think about this huge project,? says spokesperson Gino Maurer.
These 23 people made an appeal against the decision of the ministry of the Environment to grant the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) certificate to the hotel. However, for Gino Maurer, these people are simply not aware of the benefits such a project would bring to the region as well as the country. But the opponents to the project point at the ?impact of this development on residents, the community, the public as well as the necessity to guarantee a better preserved environment to future generations?.
The main bone of contention concerning this project was that the road would be diverted to link the golf course to the hotel rooms and amenities ? presently separated by the road. However, Gino Maurer can?t see how this road can be an obstacle to the environment.
Post office and health centre</B>
The plaintiff is, however, of the opinion that the project does not fulfil the conditions of the Ramsar Convention, of which Mauritius is a signatory, on the management and protection of wet lands. ?We worked with them and saw the plan: the new Trou-aux-Biches will be a beautiful jewel in the village.? Moreover, the commitments taken by the Beachcomber group to provide the village with a post office and a health centre are reasons for encouraging such a project.
The creation of jobs that this extension will bring is yet another reason for the inhabitants? disappointment to see the renovation works postponed. ?The hotel already grants jobs to a lot of people ? from hotel employees to the fishermen and the taxis. With the new project, 400 additional posts will be available. We are social workers and know how beneficial this can be for the young people of the region,? Gino Maurer claims. The Academy, to be built on the premises of the house of the general manager of the hotel, will also provide training to young people who have no high-level certificate.
Trou-aux-Biches hotel was intended to close down in May to be completely demolished and converted into a five-star hotel with more than double its present capacity in terms of room accommodation on the same site. Work would take about a year and a half and would necessitate no less than Rs 3 billion investment. The hotel management has made it clear, ?This delay in the implementation of the new Trou-aux-Biches does not put the hotel?s initial project of renovation into question?.
A communiqué was sent to all sale offices as well as tour operators around the world last Friday stating: ?As the objectives for the reopening of the hotel for the peak season 2009 will obviously not be met because of unexpected administrative deadlines, we took the decision to postpone the renovation programme after the peak season 2008 for a reopening in mid-2010.?
The hotel, which had closed its sales as from the end of April, had to re-open them at the end of last week to fill the hotel until the beginning of next year. The communiqué however is clear. ?As we have realised there was a great demand for rooms from our main partners for this end of year 2008 and especially for the Christmas holidays, we are comforted in that decision and its sale support.? Meanwhile, work will start on the golf course, which was closed down for this purpose a few weeks ago?
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