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President orders investigation into hotel embargo assaults
posted on: May 13 2011 10:37 by The Reporter. Viewed 1258 times.
After a complaint from the French Ambassador, Dominican President Leonel Fernandez has ordered a probe into an estimated 10 liens placed recently on hotels in Punta Cana.
The French Ambassador recently complained to the President after the French-owned Nouvelle Frontiere Hotel-Club was forced to close for several weeks in April when bailiffs accompanied by lawyers confiscated furniture, kitchen and computer equipment in response to an alleged debt that had not been paid. More than 200 French tourists had to be relocated to other hotels.
Other prestigious tourism brands have also been hit by “embargo assaults” regarding what are thought to be fake liens. The Bahia Principe Punta Cana, Grand Palladium Resort and the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino have all recently been hit by similar actions.
The Hard Rock Hotel was hit by ‘legal’ proceedings on behalf of 13 Haitians who were allegedly fired by a construction company carrying out work on the hotel. The first the hotel heard about it was when over a hundred men carrying sticks entered the hotel lobby and started removing furniture from the lobby to the bemusement of on-looking tourists. Lawyers were demanding an immediate payment of RD$3 million. When the hotel’s owner, Luis Padilla asked the Sherrif of La Altagracia, Juan Alberto Guerrero for the official papers allowing the seizure, the only reference to the hotel carried the name of someone named Rafael Hernandez, who was not a hotel employee and had no official cedula. The lawyers were finally ordered to put the furniture back.
President of Eastern Hoteliers Association, Ernesto Velóz, says these type of actions are common, and “good business” for local lawyers.
Higüey prosecutor Lucas Evangelista said that the Public Ministry does not authorize the police to intervene in these cases because lawyers are aided by justices of the peace who are able to “top up” their salaries by “co-operating”.
Both the Eastern Hoteliers Association and the National Association of Hotels and Restaurants have condemned these actions and reported them to the Supreme Court and the Dominican Republic’s Attorney General, Radhames Jimenez.
The Hotels and Tourism Projects Association (East) explained that the so-called “embargo assaults” are performed in an attempt to collect alleged debts that hotel owners are not even aware of because they have not been formerly claimed for.
Ernesto Velóz says he will be meeting with Radhames Jimenez to document the cases.
President Leonel Fernandez says he has now instructed the Attorney General to pay special attention to the problem in order to prevent further damage to the image of Dominican tourism.
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