Grooming island for investors

The representative of the Isla Saboga project, Armel Gonzalez Muhs said that in the long term his company is planning to invest $1.5 billion to create an island paradise that will have hotels, restaurants, houses, condominiums, spas, a marina, a yacht club, a country club, and a beach club within ten years.

Gonzalez explained that his company is not planning to build anything per se, but is putting in place all the permits and regulations and establishing relations with the islanders, in order to sell it to investors and property developers, who can then carry out different projects.

Isla Saboga company is going to give financing to those people who want to invest in this project, but investors will have to follow the rules of the organization.

Currently Saboga has over 100 inhabitants that earn their living fishing, transporting tourists who are island hopping, extracting sand which they sell to developers and working on construction on the bigger island of Contadora.

The island lacks water, roads and the sewer system is non existent, but the organization said that it will invest $20 million creating the necessary infrastructure, that will not only benefit the inhabitants, but also possible future developments. The project contemplates job creation in hotels, restaurants and other similar facilities, as well as the creation of training centers to give trade to the islanders.

The concept of Isla Saboga will be completely environmentally friendly, with spas with a holistic approach and integrating the community into the project.

Gonzalez did not reveal how much his company paid for the island, but claimed that it has already managed to sell 20 percent of the project.

Las Perlas Islands have gone through an unprecedented development over the last five years, but only time will tell if there is space for new ones at a time when the financial crisis has meant the cancellation of some projects before they start.