Tourism Ministry calls emergency meeting to discuss Royalton accident

The Ministry of Tourism has called an emergency meeting to discuss the implications of this morning’s incident in which a section of the Royalton Negril Resort and Spa, Hanover, which is under construction, collapsed injuring several workers.

“Hotel representatives have indicated that based on the staff listing, all personnel who should have been on the site have been accounted for. The injured workers have since received medical attention. None of the injuries were considered life threatening. A high level team from the Ministry visited the property shortly after the incident to provide assistance. The team was dispatched by Minister of Tourism Hon. Edmund Bartlett, who is currently overseas on official business,” the ministry said in a release.

The team was led by the ministry’s Senior Director of Technical Services, David Dobson and included Chairman of the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo) Ian Dear; Chairman of the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) Godfrey Dyer; Executive Director of TPDCo Dennis Hickey; Executive Director of the TEF Clyde Harrison; Director of Tourism, Paul Pennicook; and Senior Communications Strategist, Delano Seiveright.

The emergency meeting will be held on Wednesday at the Ministry’s New Kingston offices where members of the team will meet with the owners of Royalton Negril, the main contractor and the sub-contractor, whose team was carrying out work on the site when the incident occurred.