Re: The Tragedy of Temenos

Credit Suisse, the lead arranger for a syndicate of lenders at the Temenos project, announced last week that it had appointed a receiver to take control of the Temenos project. It should be obvious to all that after almost two years of attempted negotiations with the owner Mr. Sillerman and Flag Luxury Properties, Credit Suisse does not believe that it can strike a deal with Mr. Sillerman and has moved ahead to take back the property in order to sell it to the highest bidder.

Credit Suisse and the other lenders in the large lender syndicate group have every right to try to recoup as much money as they can on their bad debt to Mr. Sillerman, but unfortunately, what Credit Suisse wants and what Anguilla needs are two different things.

Credit Suisse will only be interested in selling to the highest bidder, regardless of the new owner’s development, hotel, or golf experience and regardless of whether the new owner is committed to completion of the project and actually operating the hotel and golf course. In fact, there is a strong likelihood that the new owner will be another New York investment fund and speculator, simply trying to make quick money, with no intention of completing and operating the project. If that turns out to be the case, the resort will continue to waste away, only making it more difficult and expensive to complete and open. Meanwhile, the people of Anguilla are the losers, again, because the current Government is unwilling to take tough stands and do the right thing for its people.

The concept that the Government would use the Alien Land Holding license process to steer the process to the right person, is laughable. Not only would that take an enormous amount of time, there is no guarantee that Anguilla would end up with the right group. Why should a receiver shape the destiny of Temenos and our Island when it is our Governments job and responsibility to do so. Which they have not done. This Government has been led around by its noses by slick insincere foreign developers , so what makes us believe it would be any different this time.

A few months ago, we learned that Sheila Johnson and her company, Salamander Hospitality, were interested in Temenos. Ms. Johnson visited Anguilla and met with the Government to discuss the possibility of Salamander taking over the development of Temenos. Hopes were high and Government seemed to be moving in a much needed new direction – promising Salamander’s representatives that if no solution could be reached with Flag, that Government would begin a public acquisition process which would include ensuring that the next owner at Temenos would be experienced, well capitalized, and committed to completion of the project. There is no more appropriate public purpose than rescuing Temenos, which will provide jobs for Anguillians and stabilize our economy. Even though the Government chose to publish letters that showed they were moving ahead with the public acquisition process, it was all for political show, as Government never had any serious intention of doing so.

Finally, what is to become of the claims of all of the Anguillian (and other) contractors, home buyers, and other creditors of Flag? There are many lawsuits (and many more claims from creditors that could become lawsuits) in connection with Temenos that any new deal must address before commencing the large job of completing the project. The people of Anguilla deserve to understand how Flag and/or Credit Suisse are proposing to resolve these claims.

More than anything, the people of Anguilla want the Temenos project finished so that our valuable land is put to good use creating jobs and generating taxes. The current Government seems content to let events run their course without any serious political pressure or involvement, which is a disservice to the people of Temenos.

Sincerely,

A Concerned Citizen

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