Sam Lord’s work on target
The redevelopment work of Sam Lord’s Castle into a five-star hotel is on target for 2020.
Acting Prime Minister, Richard Sealy disclosed that some excavation has been completed and work is ongoing. He shared this as he addressed the gathering at Friday’s reception in celebration of the 68th anniversary of the Founding of the People’s Republic of China at the Chinese Embassy.
“As I speak to you, at least five of the buildings have been excavated and work on the foundations in two of those buildings is ongoing and indeed we have at least had one draw down from the EXIM Bank to see that the major project of 450 rooms is completed during the course of 2020.”
Sealy in his remarks also highlighted the areas, including education, culture and healthcare, through which the countries have cooperated over the years.
Turning his attention to speak about the visa waiver signed to allow travel between Barbados and China, Sealy said “it is my certain knowledge that our friends at tourism have been working on destination awareness in the People’s Republic of China while at the same time partnering with the distribution channels in the airline. So we too are doing our part to see if we can have more Chinese coming to Barbados in the not too distant future.”
Friday’s reception was attended by a number of government officials and members of the Consular Corps.
Addressing the gathering, Chargé d’Affaires of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Barbados, Zou Xi made mention of the waiver as well. He shared a hope “that our bilateral visa waiver arrangement will further promote the exchanges in economic, trade, tourism and other areas between our two countries.”
Speaking specifically about the Sam Lord’s Castle project, he said “looking ahead into the year of 2018, I hope that Sam Lord’s Castle Resort could be rehabilitated and open for business as scheduled to benefit the local economy.”
Moreover, he shared a hope that “the second Chinese Medical Team will fully apply their expertise to provide great medical services to local patients.” Also, that all the teaching programme “at U.W.I.-China Institute of Information Technology will build a wider platform for young Barbadian people’s academic study and career life, as well as to attract more Barbadian people to know and fall in love with the Chinese language and culture.”