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View Full Version : Hotel Montana contract revoked



NewsWhore
11-29-2007, 03:10 PM
The government has revoked a contract signed by businessmen Jose Cabrera Castillo with the Corporacion Hotelera, a division of the Ministry of Tourism, as reported in Hoy. Eric Hazim, director general for the implementation of the new Law on Governmental Contracts said the contract, which was granted without a tender, violated the law. As reported in Hoy, the revocation of the contract is part of an effort by the Public Contracting Department to stamp out government corruption. The department also works for the fulfillment of Law 340-06 on Government Procurement, Contracting.
In September, Tourism Minister Felix Jimenez announced that Pareatis S.A. was awarded a 35-year lease on the Montana Hotel in Jarabacoa. The company was contractually bound to pay a stipend of RD$67,000 (US$2,000) per month and committed to a RD$300 million investment in the hotel through 2010. As part of the deal, the first rent payment would be made in 2018 with the company being given time to recover a RD$300 million investment it was committed to making in the hotel.
The hotel has been undergoing renovation work for several months, and the Ministry reports that RD$18 million of the budgeted RD$40 million taxpayer money had already been spent.
Freddy Majluta, director of the Hotel Industry and Tourism Development Corporation (CORPHOTEL) signed the contract for the Dominican government. Jose Felix Cabrera Castillo, the main shareholder of Pareatis S.A., signed for the new operator. El Caribe describes Cabrera Castillo as a show-business promoter.
At the time, Cabrera announced that he would invest RD$25 million to complete the structural renovations and another RD$67 million to equip the hotel, for an initial RD$110 million investment to get the hotel started. The company also planned to install a casino to attract gamblers. This would have been the first casino in the province of La Vega. The Ministry did not explain where the additional RD$200 million would be spent.

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