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Hard Rock casino plans on hold in Jamaica

Published:Friday | July 8, 2022 | 12:08 AM

The plan to develop a Hard Rock hotel and casino in Jamaica is on pause, pending amendments to the Casino Act, according to the Government of Jamaica in its latest annual filings to the US Securities Exchange Commission. The filings in June...

The plan to develop a Hard Rock hotel and casino in Jamaica is on pause, pending amendments to the Casino Act, according to the Government of Jamaica in its latest annual filings to the US Securities Exchange Commission.

The filings in June described Hard Rock as being a US$250-million “project on hold, awaiting amendments to the Casino Gaming Act”.

Minister of Finance Dr Nigel Clarke did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In 2018, Director of Tourism Donovan White made the announcement, while speaking at a tourism conference, that the hotel chain would enter Jamaica and was to have launched construction in the same year at Lilliput, on the edge of Montego Bay.

Hard Rock is a part of a larger group out of Mexico that have continued to expand their product portfolio across the region, he stated at the time.

Hard Rock hotels are spread across the regions of North America, Central America, South America, the Caribbean, Africa, Europe, and Asia. In the Caribbean, it operates in the Dominican Republic. The brand is franchised by owner Hard Rock International,

The Government expects US$1.9 billion worth of hotel investments in the “near term,” which would add 8,517 rooms to Jamaica’s inventory. The largest project is the US$500-million Princess Resort for which construction is ongoing, according to the report. The Hard Rock development, at US$250 million, was the fourth-largest near-term investment planned, according to tables in the report.

Over the next five years, approximately 16 hotels are projected to come on stream, representing approximately 10,324 new rooms, GOJ said.

Parliament approved legislation to allow casinos in Jamaica more than a decade ago, but the initial two investors that were the recipients of approved integrated resort development orders, or IRDs, failed to secure the required capital to advance their projects. The IRDs allowed for the application of a casino licence, but only after the conditions surrounding the development of a certain number of hotel rooms had been met.

One of the approved IRDs was for the development of Harmony Cove, a project in which the Development Bank of Jamaica was a partner.

The licensing process was later criticised as being too onerous and uncertain, which subsequently led to revisions to the law.

In 2021, the Jamaican government again opened applications for the awarding of IRD permits to woo billions of dollars from the casino gaming industry and investors. At the time, Clarke told Parliament that a 10-member team would evaluate the applications. But nothing more has been said since. The granting of approved IRDs is done by the minister of finance, whereas applications for casino licences are handled by the Casino Commission.

steven.jackson@gleanerjm.com