BRADES – There is still no closure to the Montserrat Development Corporation (MDC), which was ordered shut by the government at the end of May 2015.
According to the Honourable Premier Donaldson Romeo, the liquidation process is continuing which includes the transfer of assets to the Government of Montserrat. One of these assets is the current Marine Village complex.
“They are working through the legal issues. Only three members of staff remain. A number of them related to tourism have been subsumed in my office and others under contract have been terminated,” Premier Romeo explained.
Tourism, which fell under the MDC is now under review confirmed the premier. A consulting firm is presently under contract to review the Tourism Development Programme (TDP3) and the creation of a Tourism Investment Agency. This work is to be completed by 2016, the premier said.
He added that a local stakeholder group is helping to guide the process but did not reveal who were members of this group.
Premier Romeo said with the oversight of his office, tourism matters such as beach cleaning, beautification of national sites, coordinating special ferry services from Guadeloupe and preparing for the arrival of the Windstar cruises later this year.
“Tourism wasn’t really doing much under the MDC and neither was the MDC.” he said.