KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, March 12, IWN — The brother of Opposition senator Vynnette Frederick who took the two BBC journalists by boat to the Buccament Bay Resort last month says he was hired to do so.
“I have a tender boat for hire. They wanted to get a look at the coastline, … so they hired my boat and I took them down there,” businessman Bryan Hadaway told I-Witness News on Sunday.
“Also, they were interested in seeing the unfinished buildings at the back of the resort. I also took them down there as well by SUV,” he further said.
BBC journalists Paul Kenyon and Matthew Hill came to this country as part of a programme that their show, Panorama, is doing on Harlequin, the company that owns Buccament Bay Resort.
Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves has accused the journalists of aligning themselves with the opposition New Democratic Party.
Gonsalves has also said the journalists of accosted him aboard an aircraft in Barbados on Feb. 17.
He later told a press conference that Hadaway took the journalists to Buccament by boat for dramatic effect, when they simply could have driven there.
But Hadaway told I-Witness News that he also took the journalist to Buccament Bay by SUV, since they wanted to see incomplete structures towards the back of the resort.
“I don’t think any wrong was done in providing the service. They could have taken any taxi to do the same thing,” Hadaway said.
He said he has provided similar services for other film crews, including for “Pirate of the Caribbean”.
Hadaway further told I-Witness News that Senator Frederick was not involved in contracting his service.
“These guys contacted me and I made the boat available,” he said, adding that the boat is available for anyone who wants to contract its services.
He said that the resort owes his company $78,000 for more than a year for various services provided by his businesses, and lease of property.
“I did a lot of work that I am proud of down there as well. Personally, I want to see the project be a success; but … since the project stared, it has been plagued with a lot of hitches and every contactor I have worked with down there, we have problems with payments,” he said of the resort.
Several goods and service providers have complained about late payment.
Hadaway further said that he understands that the Prime Minister, by mentioning his name, “ is trying to hold on to something.
“… And since those comments, a lot of people didn’t know I operate IMs, so it is a lot of promotion for me.
“He is a politician, he has to look for whatever political mileage, but I am not a politician; I am a service provider. And, also, I am one hundred per cent Vincy,” Hadaway said.
He said he and another of the 21-year-old company’s 15 employees took the two BBC journalists to Buccament Bay by boat.