No MOU, no grant!

Government is being urged not to grant concessions to those restaurants or hotels who fail to sign off on memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Barbados Agricultural Society (BAS) and the Barbados Manufacturing Association (BMA).

The appeal has come from James Paul, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the BAS, who believes that failure to sign could undermine economic activity and devastate the agricultural society in Barbados.

Paul made the comments during a hastily called news briefing at the BAS headquarters yesterday, in response to comments by president of the Barbados Hotel & Tourism Association (BHTA), Sunil Chatrani, questioning the signing of the MOU.

During the third quarterly general meeting of the BHTA at Hilton Barbados on Wednesday, Chatrani welcomed the concessions but noted that he had reservations about the need to sign the memorandum, a condition which he said was not placed on Sandals Resort Group, which was the first recipient.

However, an irritated Paul explained he was annoyed by Chatrani’s statements, especially considering the fact that the MOU was drafted with input from the BHTA, BMA and BAS.