The resort property was shut down 14 months ago after Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne.
Unanswered phone calls and letters over the past months have proved “frustrating” for the owners, who say they simply want to know what will become of their investment.
Resort Manager Rudy Meadows said he was unable to comment yesterday and, up to press time, Senior Vice President Donald Archer did not return our call.
Initially, some owners were told the resort would reopen in November 2004. Then when news of a buyer surfaced, it launched hope of a 2006 reopening date.
But now that there has been no word in recent months, the time-share owners are using any means available to them.
Several e-mails from owners wishing to get any kind of help have reached The Freeport News’ desk.
One owner revealed, via an e-mail Thursday, that he had only purchased his time-share in April 2004. He said he started making payments in May and even paid the $500 maintenance fee in January of this year.
Within that time, he has paid nearly $7,000 to the resort and now the Pennsylvania man says he simply wants the money returned.
“We can purchase another time-share,” he added.
Last Monday, an Atlanta, Georgia woman wrote that she had purchased a timeshare for a week back in 2003 for 30 years and had been making payments faithfully.
“Most of us are not rich people and work hard to enjoy a week’s vacation,” she pointed out.
Other e-mails from owners from throughout the U.S., including Florida and North Carolina, question what recourse they have, noting that they have yet to receive communication on what will happen next.
Afraid of losing their time-share package altogether, some have continued with monthly payments.
But even this, one owner says, is confusing because while she sends her payment to a vacation club in Georgia, she knows of another owner who makes her payment to a firm in California.
Some 1,300 employees were left jobless after the resort closed its doors. At the time, Driftwood Freeport Limited, owners of the Crowne Plaza Golf Resort and Casino at Royal Oasis, said the closure was only temporary and was necessary to make much needed repairs.
The resort, the second largest on the island, was a major player in the development of the International Bazaar and its economic wealth and had a tremendous effect on business.
The bazaar suffered grave setbacks and an economic decline with the closure of several stores.
Minister of Labour and Immigration Vincent Peet early November 2004 said it was unacceptable for the resort to owe a large sum of money to its employees and creditors and urged the owners of the resort to pay up quickly.
Restoration work at the Royal Oasis, however, ceased in late December 2004. At the time, management announced that the work stoppage was necessary until they came to “a definitive agreement with the company’s insurance carrier.”
In a show of good faith, in mid-May, government paid out $6.1 million to hundreds of displaced workers in severance packages.
One time-share owner questions, “if the resort cannot pay its former employers, then what happens to our time-shares.”
At present, the Country Club property is being used by some of the victims of Hurricane Wilma who were left homeless.
By LEDEDRA MARCHE, Senior Freeport News Reporter
