(Barbados Nation) Almond Resorts Inc. shelled out Bds$9.7 million in severance and other payments to the near 600 workers who lost their jobs when the flagship Almond Beach Village in St Peter was closed at the end of April.
This was revealed yesterday to shareholders of Almond Resorts Inc (ARI) by deputy chairman and Neal & Massy group chief executive officer Gervase Warner, during a special shareholders meeting at the closed facility.
According to reports from the meeting, Warner revealed that the company also had paid out Bds$600 000 in penalties for not meeting contractual arrangement with tour operators and guests.
Shareholders reported that Warner, who heads the Trinidad and Tobago-based conglomerate, said the hotel group was unlikely to expend more money in severance charges because the two other hotels – Almond Casuarina in Christ Church, Almond Beach Club in St James – would be sold as going concerns.