‘I made no promises of gifts nor was I offered any’ - Hugh E. Darley
“There were no promises made between any parties as the Port Priority was very important for Disney and Norwegian Cruise Lines. They must have priority berths to compete with Carnival and Royal Caribbean. As an owner my reward was to come over time,” he said in an exclusive interview with this news site yesterday December 23, 2015.
He said that he owned 20% of the project and “if I ran the project well as designed would have profited from the revenue streams as would the government.” He said that in 30 years, they would have handed over ownership to the BVI Ports Authority (BVIPA) and they would have not invested one dollar.
“I was to be paid a developers fee of $2,000,000 for delivery of the documents and guarantees with Disney and NCL. We completed our obligations on August 19th 2013. When Jim Triplett of UIG did not close on the financing for the TPP Obligation I lost my equity but had already turned over the documents. I asked the government to hold payment to Jim Triplett as he did not perform and pay IDEA for the drawings but the BVIPA paid Jim Triplett $1.7 million in a guarantee they signed with UIG that did not involve IDEA,” he explained.
According to him, the government entered into conversations with IDEA to keep the project alive and asked that they at their cost manage the process with Dion Stoutt between October 1st and December 31st.
“They then promised to enter an agreement with IDEA for $25,000 per month as a licensing fee yet we had to also act as art director as Dion Stoutt had no experience with such projects. IDEA entered into the license agreement on January 6th 2014. The BVIPA paid us for four months then ended our relationship,” he said.
Darley said that other than the free lunches that he bought persons, there was no money, no promises of jobs, no promises of scholarships for students once project approved. “However, I negotiated with Disney to provide for training via the Disney Institute as part of their priority berthing agreement,” he disclosed.
Asked whether he had given Minister for Communications and Works Honourable Mark H. Vanterpool or Minister for Natural Resources and Labour Dr The Honourable Kedrick D. Pickering or Premier Dr The Honourable D. Orlando Smith anything in exchange for the project, Darley said “Nothing was asked or given.”
He disclosed, however, that IDEA did provide conceptual drawings for the airport bridge solution and for the Brandy Wine Road Improvements.
I was not hired nor fired
He said that either he or a representative was to be an equity owner, and sit on the TPP Board and assist in operating the port. “It is important for the people to know I was an owner and brought the project to government, I was not hired and I was not fired. I have an agreement that the BVIPA did not honour. I expect to hear from Dr. Pickering and would like to come to an agreement with them to help complete the project and set things straight.”
Mr Darley had also said in a previous exclusive interview that he has been contemplating a lawsuit against the NDP Government for allegedly not honouring their side of the agreement regarding the use of his designs for the Ports Project.
“I created the project and I brought the cruise lines to the BVI government. The government never paid me for my participation. They were supposed to pay me a licencing agreement for the use of my drawings because we did not close on our financial deal. I sought legal action against the government but because of the cost to sue the BVI government it may be cost prohibitive right now. I have to wait till the project opens and then I will reassess the possibility of suing them for what they used of my drawings,” he had said on December 20, 2015.
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26 Responses to “‘I made no promises of gifts nor was I offered any’ - Hugh E. Darley”
This what happen when you make deal with the devil. You always get cheated. Everyone who voted for NDP look they crying now. Same thing. Laugh and cry live in same hut
Come on guys.... the initial story was hard hitting, but now it is becoming apparent what this is all about.. You all beating a dead horse now....
The logics does not add up and appears to be a bitter looser. he wasnt hire or fired.
What the hell does that means?
Again he here calling down all our contractors. He just need to go back miami and look
a job. Bout he sueing government, why he dont go ahead and sue.
beside Tobias, what about Edmund and the other jokers? I guess he couldn't get on
Dougie and Donald radio shows.
If here was like down island, he would have been escorted off island long time.
I wonder how getting them involved with other projects made government think they could move forward without permits or permission, let alone not telling the people they were involved. The designs are awful. This is contract creep with bad design and opportunism.