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By A.Pierre
The secrecy behind the new hotel between Fisherman`s Cove and Berjaya Beau Vallon bay when it was being built, was exceptional. Even a gruesome discovery of a male human skull in a shallow grave blessed the final stages of construction. Nobody is quite sure whether the hotel is now called H Hotel , H Resort, H Resort Beau Vallon or H group; one thing is for sure they like the letter H.Has anybody asked what the H stands for?
What is for sure is that the company that is leasing plots V576, V577 and V10115 is a company called Belombre Hotels Development Limited. The new hotel was constructed under this limited company and any information on this new hotel was referred to Belombre Hotels Development Ltd by registrar during this period.The 3 plots total up to approximately 72,000 square meters of prime Government land.
The company signed a 99 year lease with the Government on the 8th of April 2004 and was represented by Noelin Didon. The former President, Albert Rene, handed power to the current President on the 16th April 2004; only a mere 8 days after. As well as the upfront fee which nobody actually knows whether it was really paid, the annual rent to be paid is just a solitary 1 rupee per year! Very good business for the company and extremely generous by the Government.In addition no duty was paid. Public records show that Belombre Hotel Devopment Limited is owned by a company in the British Virgin Island (BVI) named Hotel Properties Ltd. BVI registers companies which do not have to disclose, on public record, their beneficial owners. Dominique Richard-Hebert the General Manager of H Hotel claimed in a recent interview that the hotel was owned by an investment group in the UAE; clearly trying to mislead.
It is also evident that Fisherman`s Cove Hotels Limited is owned by a Seychelles company to the name of Hotel Properties Limited; who in turn are owned by same Hotel Properties Limited in the BVI. In its published account dated 31st December 2004, Meridien (Seychelles) Limited a Seychelles registered company owned by the international hotel management company disclosed that it was renting the Fisherman's Cove from Fisherman's Cove Hotel Limited for the annual sum of US$ 2,262,000, under a 20 year non-cancellable lease; which means that the lucky owners of Hotel Properties Limited in the BVI that also owns Belombre Hotel Development Limited will earn a total of US$ 60,210,000 over twenty years. Not at all a laughable sum. On top of that and according to the accounts of Fisherman’s Cove Hotel Limited it has been granted exemption from payment of Business Tax by the Ministry of Finance for a period of 20 years under the Investment Promotion Act. The Minister of Finance at the time was the current President James Michel.
The lucky and well hidden owners of Hotel Properties Limited in the BVI are getting extremely rich at the expense of the Seychellois people. The people of Seychelles must demand accountability from its Government on such atrocious deals. It must be recalled that former President Albert Rene published a document called “SPPF Policy Statement Onward to Socialism”. In it he claimed that “In accordance with the overriding aims of Seychelles People's Progressive Front, the tourist industry must result in economic benefits to all and not simply to those who have sought to capitalise on the natural beauty of the country”.
