The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

I read with interest the comments of Oniel Khosa, owner of the Stone’s Throw Away hotel, regarding his proposed development of a grocery store and café (and “F&B, etc” whatever that means) in a low-density, quaint, residential area.

At a Town Planning meeting earlier this week, Mr Khosa said he did not want to engage in a fight with the community and suggested he would not pursue the project without the consensus and full support of the residents of Tropical Gardens and Gambier Heights.

Well, clearly, he does not have it. More than a dozen community members turned up to the meeting, and not a single one expressed support for this further commercial incursion into our neigbourhood. Many expressed their vehement opposition.

According to Mr Khosa, the residents’ concerns are “blown out of proportion” and “based on emotion”. Strange that he could pass such authoritative judgement, when at the meeting he claimed to be totally unaware of the issues residents have already been facing because of his resort.

He says the issues complained of – traffic congestion, trash and refuse, noise pollution, parking for his guests taking over the neigbourhood and blocking residents from own homes – predate his ownership. Yet he has been the proprietor for six years and has done absolutely nothing about any of it.

Taking him at his word that he was previously unaware of the issues with his existing business, that he will take action to fix them going forward, and that he does not wish to proceed with his new project without community consensus, I have a suggestion for Mr Khosa:

Withdraw your proposal to the Town Planning Committee with immediate effect.

Withdraw it, prove to the community that you will indeed take action on the existing problems – which, though they have originated with a previous owner, are now squarely your responsibility.

Having proven your word, in six months or a year, reapply. You did, after all, suggest that there was no urgency about this project for you, as the hotel is your main business. What would you have to lose?

Do this, and who knows? Perhaps you will find that your promises carry more weight with the community then they do at the moment. “Put your money where your mouth is”, so the saying goes.

Or as we like to frame it around here – “Mouth could say anything”.

PACO NUNEZ

Tropical Gardens resident

October 4, 2023