The Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) is having a hard time offloading assets placed on the market on behalf of the Government, and the state agency says even where there is interest the offers are not worth considering.

Among the stalled divestment efforts are those related to land and buildings at Rodon's Pen, St Catherine, the remnants of the former cotton polyester factory; Davon Uniforms International Limited, now in liquidation; and Rooms on the Beach, a small hotel property in Ocho Rios.

DBJ said it received only one bid for the 97-room hotel and found the offer "unacceptable".

"The Government of Jamaica is revisiting its approach to the divestment of the hotel," the bank said in an email response, but gave no explanations.

Rooms on the Beach hotel is owned by Montego Beach Limited, a subsidiary of National Hotels and Properties Limited (NHP), which itself is a subsidiary of the Urban Development Corporation (UDC).

The hotel was at one time owned by another UDC company, Ocho Rios Club and Motel Limited. NCB Investments purchased the hotel in 1989 and in 1996 changed the name to Club Jamaica Beach Resorts Limited. The UDC, through Montego Beach (1975) Limited, purchased the hotel in December 2000.

In January 2001, the hotel was subsequently leased to Village Resorts Limited, a member of the SuperClubs group, and has been trading as Rooms on the Beach (Ocho Rios) since then.

Failed efforts

Unlike the hotel, which was only recently placed on the auction block, there have been several failed efforts to sell the former cotton polyester textile plant.

"Recent efforts to divest this property have again been unsuccessful as no suitable bids were received," said the DBJ, which now appears to have pulled the property from the market.

The bank said it was in the process of identifying "alternative avenues for the productive utilisation of this property."

A legacy of Chinese aid in the 1970s, the cotton polyester mill was a symbol of early relations between the countries. Sitting on 21 acres of land, the factory closed for long stretches since the 1980s until it was finally shut down at the end of 1996 and put up for sale the following year.

DBJ, which owns 91 per cent of Davon, has now given up on finding a buyer and has put the company in liquidation "by agreement of shareholders and creditors".

The remaining nine per cent of the company is held by two former workers. It is understood that the company could have up to 30 local and overseas creditors.

The company began operations in the early 1960s. Previously owned by Jamaican David Chin, Davon was placed in receivership and taken over by the former National Investment Bank of Jamaica, when the manufacturing concern ran into financial trouble in 2004. NIBJ merged with the DBJ in 2007.

On other divestment initiatives being handled by DBJ, some 12 expressions of interest were received for NHP's 59.81 per cent stake in the 320-room Jamaica Pegasus hotel, with a prequalification round to come.

And the proposed sale of land held by Montpelier Citrus Company Limited in St James is said to be awaiting a decision from Cabinet.

dionne.rose@gleanerjm.com