The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE noise of construction work around the pool areas of Sandals Royal Bahamian Resort and the ungainly images of the construction work will be so disruptive that guests could not be expected to remain in the vicinity while repairs take place, Sandals’ Construction Project Manager James Wilson said yesterday.

He suggested that this is the primary reason the resort is temporarily closing.

His statement came as he took The Tribune on a tour of the resort as construction workers engaged in extensive work.

The tour was the resort’s latest attempt to address criticism that its temporary closure is an attack on the Bahamas Hotel & Allied Workers Union (BHAWU) rather than genuinely borne out of a need to conduct urgent repairs.

The repairs observed by The Tribune fell into two categories: potentially urgent work and non-urgent work.

Most renovations fell into the latter category. This involves cosmetic changes like replacing tiles and carpets on numerous floors, uprooting wooden and concrete floor structures to replace them and upgrading areas of the resort such as the Villa Suites section which hasn’t been renovated since Sandals was purchased in the late 1990s, according to Mr Wilson’s assistant, Don Cooke.

Some areas, such as bathrooms of the Villa Suites, will be given more contemporary amenities, for instance.

As for the urgent repairs, Mr Wilson said the resort’s Balmoral pool loses an average of 5,000 gallons of water every day because of leaks, costing the resort thousands of dollars a month.

This, he said, requires immediate attention, the kind that can’t be addressed without causing commotion.

The resort is also in the process of addressing its plumbing issues.

The resort’s steam pipes, which have been leaking, will be replaced. And technicians will replace the piping insulation surrounding chiller pipes.

Both systems will be shut down for weeks while the changes are made.

Replacing steam pipes, Mr Wilson noted, will affect laundry and shutting down the chiller system will affect the air conditioning services provided to the Balmoral and Windsor section of the resort but not the Villa Suites, which have their own air conditioning units.

The resort has been criticised for not conducting its repairs in phases.

Ultimately, the reason given for this decision seems to be that the noise of jackhammers around the pool area will be too disruptive to guests anywhere on the property.

Mr Wilson said about a dozen contractors have been hired to engage in repair works around the resort.

The Tribune went to Sandals yesterday expecting, based on arrangements, to meet General Manager Gary Williams.

But when this newspaper showed up to the resort, representatives said Mr Williams was off-site.

On August 15, the resort announced that more than 600 workers had been made redundant as the property closed for repairs. The hotel is expected to open in October.

Minister of Labour Shane Gibson has criticised hotel officials, saying executives could have laid the employees off instead of making them redundant. He has also criticised Sandals for hosting a four-day job fair - which began yesterday - where former employees will be re-interviewed to see if they will be re-employed.

Mr Gibson has also said the hotel did not give his ministry early notice of the planned redundancies, only informing the ministry by letter one business day before the changes took place.