A proposed casino project in Barbuda and funded by actor Robert De Niro and Australian billionaire James Packer has won support from the local government in the Caribbean island.
Lawmakers for Antigua and Barbuda recently enacted the Paradise Found Bill, which gives the project a 25-year “tax holiday” and is designed to help expedite the process.
The proposed $250 million casino project had become “stymied” by local “maneuverings,” which managed to stall the project in court, Prime Minister Gason Browne said.
The bill supersedes the Barbuda Land Act, which casino opponents have used to stop the project from going forward. Casino opponents lost an initial court effort to block the casino project, but have appealed the matter, which Browne said could delay the development for some time.
“The application of the Barbuda Land Act has proved not to be investor-friendly,” Browne said.
But with new regulations in place, Browne hopes to expedite the casino project and boost the island’s tourist-based economy, but critics say it requires some of the island’s 1,600 residents to give up some of their land.
De Niro and Parker want to convert the island’s K Club resort, where Princess Diana spent several holidays and has been closed for 11 years, into a gaming casino.
Their plan calls for a five-star boutique hotel, casino, eco-lodge, marina, and airport.
