Dear Sir,

Soon all the unnecessary wailing and gnashing of teeth will be over. The special development order for Westend Properties will be enlarged, approved and signed to no one’s surprise. The latest diversion by the Government to take attention off our real issues will have done its job.

So, what has been wrought by the past few weeks of both informed and ill-informed debate on a project that is now 43 months since the announcement of a purchase and soon to be renovation? Well, really, a lot more than was bargained for.

Today we have a government reeling from a credibility and integrity gap. A government that has recognised the same and remained stone silent these past few weeks. A government allegedly concerned with the future of our people and an economy that, after 3½ years of promise after promise about the project, finally had nothing to say. A government with possibly 34 potentially articulate voices with abilities to offer something remained silent.

Additionally, since the announcement in 2019, we have had a bailout, secret agreements signed re labour, and the loss of a Minister of Finance — directly. Extraordinary financial loans, guarantees, waivers and all other concessions yet unknown. Thus ending in a not-so-veiled threat of allegedly “perturbed investors” ... if we do not get the SDO, we take our monies elsewhere. Hubris apparently knows no bounds.

Given all the above, we still do not have a shovel in the ground or a lick of paint on the walls. A renovation scheme that clearly must have been considered by the would-be purchasers before their offer. A purchase that included an approved SDO already. However, hope springs eternal, and with the approval of the new and improved SDO, we have had one of the investors reveal a late summer start with an opening in 2024!

Let’s consider for a moment all the financing and concessions, etc, which have recently appeared from both the taxpayers and private financial sources since 2019. What say we let this fish go in hopes of a bigger and better fish coming along? Just a thought.

DAVID J. SULLIVAN

Paget