2020 Development Company, Ile Soleil project heavily under government assessment |17 November 2021
The Ministry of Investment, Entrepreneurship and Industry has re-affirmed government’s position in relation to 2020 Development and Ile Soleil, in that no further work will be undertaken on the island while investigations continue.
To this effect a stop notice was activated by the Ministry of Land and Housing recently while government decides on next steps.
During a meeting held yesterday at State House led by President Wavel Ramkalawan and the Minister for Investment, Entrepreneurship and Industry (MIEI) Devika Vidot, a number of items were debated in the presence of new board members of the 2020 Development Company, a representative from the old board, members of the Ministry of Land and Housing, the department of environment, contractors involved in the Ile Soleil project and independent engineering experts.
Points tabled covered the background behind the inception of the 2020 Development Company, the Ile Soleil land use concept, allocation of work to contractors, their roles in establishing infrastructure on the island, models of payment agreed, negotiations that occurred between government and the 2020 Development Company, allocation of land to the now current owners, a number of outstanding debts that need to be settled by the company and compensation due to people living on the island who have complained of housing infrastructure issues.
Minister Vidot, under whose purview the 2020 Development Company falls, announced last week that upon reviewing development plans for Ile Soleil, it is clear that there are several cases of conflicts of interest in relation to the project. A number of structural and planning failures have also been identified which will need to be rectified.
Key to note that President Ramkalawan and Minister Vidot, accompanied by a small delegation including representatives from the Ministry of Land and Housing, also visited Ile Soleil on Friday November 12 to assess the situation on the island.
Discussions with the aforementioned groups of people will continue to better understand the way forward and come up with some viable solutions, taking into account that the investigation into 2020 Development Company is still ongoing. These solutions will be aimed at remedying existing failures on the island and salvaging the situation for Ile Soleil, its inhabitants and the country.
Press release from the Ministry of Investment, Entrepreneurship and Industry