A waiter prepares to serve food at a restaurant at the Port Antonio Marina in this 2006 file photo. - File

The Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ) has shut down negotiations with a United States-based outfit, Maritime Development Group (MDG), for the lease of the government's Errol Flynn Marina in Portland, without giving reasons for pulling back from a deal that the potential lessees felt was heading towards finalisation.

"I don't understand it, I really do not," said Jamaican attorney Duane Thomas, who represented MGD in the near yearlong negotiations with the PAJ.

"There has to be something because there was a commitment to a contract," Thomas told Wednesday Business.

He raised the possibility of a suit against the PAJ, but made clear he has no instruction to proceed.

Pat Belinfanti, head of corporate communications at the PAJ, confirmed that the negotiations were off, but declined to say why, or if the authority had other suitors for the facility.

The marina was built over half a decade ago, with the hope of enticing mega yachts to the waters of Portland, eastern Jamaica.

That side of the island is considered among the still pristine parts of Jamaica. Errol Flynn, the late actor for whom the marina is named, had a home in the parish.

The marina has not, however, attracted the expected traffic and the PAJ, which has been seeking to lease the boatyard to an independent operator, entered talks with MDG - an outfit managed by Jamaican Rique Ford.

Lease contracts

MDG is reported to have operations in New Zealand as well as Los Angeles and Costa Mesa, California.

Thomas, the MGD lawyer, said the PAJ sent his clients a draft lease contracts some months ago, which raised questions about the abrupt about-face.

"Had we agreed with the contents we would have already had our lease, but we made a request for some amendments, now to be told that they have decided not to continue ...," Thomas said.

"They have not said why, but the question is what if we had agreed with the draft signed earlier?" Thomas asked. "They need to explain what this is all about."

In her letter notifying of the PAJ closure of the negotiations, Beverly Williamson, the authority's vice-president for special projects, said only that after "careful consideration" they had decided not to go ahead with a deal.

MDG officials have questioned whether it was Ford's criticism of the long time it had taken to negotiate a lease and the bureaucratic impediments encountered by the company that led to the PAJ's decision.

The marina, with restaurants and shopping areas, has 32 berths that can accommodate yachts of up to 600 feet. It is equipped with a 100-tonne marine travel lift, a heliport and a state-of-the-art fuelling jetty.

Boatyard

MDG had proposed to develop the boatyard into a full service repair shop, a marine spare parts store, storage and care facility for vessels.

Ford had also said he would build and sell a line of boats from the marina.

Thomas told Wednesday Business that he was now awaiting instructions from his clients on how to proceed in the face of the PAJ's decision.

His personal preference, Thomas suggested, would be to sue the Port Authority for expenses that MDG incurred, having allegedly had oral representation from the PAJ, leading to the understanding that there would be a lease.

mark.titus@gleanerjm.com