A long-awaited resort and casino in Jamaica may not happen after all. The government may be poised to withdraw its support for the Harmony Cove mega-resort—and the exclusive casino license that has been proposed.
Daryl Vaz, an official in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation said the government will soon make a decision on the project, which has been proposed in Trelawny.
Vaz last week gave an update to Parliament’s Standing Finance Committee on the project, which hangs on three major issues. One of these is changes in the project’s tax incentive program.
Those incentives were agreed to in 2008, when a different party was in power in Jamaica. Since that time the country has signed an agreement with the International Monetary Fund that caused the county to revise tax-incentive rules.
Harmony Cove Ltd is owned by a combination of private investment companies and the Development Bank of Jamaica and the National Housing Trust. One of the principals is Harmonisation Limited which was created in 2003 to carry out a master plan for the 2,300-acre Harmony Cove project, which would be built around a casino.
The IMF agreement differs from the original incentives offered by the government to the developer, which is causing the investors to reexamine the viability of Harmony Cove. Vaz said the government would have a position within 90 days.
