Posted on 07/31/2002 6:04:38 AM PDT by 4Freedom
The conversion of Roosevelt Roads Naval Base into a super seaport for excursion boats and cruise ships of every size could transform Puerto Rico into the hub of nautical tourism in the Caribbean, a local investor said Tuesday.
"A way to guarantee that Puerto Rico will play a leading role in the future of tourism in the Caribbean is to...[have] the facilities at Roosevelt Roads Base turned over to us, along with Vieques," said Luis M. Corujo, president of Grupo Financiero Corujo investment company and a yacht aficionado.
Corujo testified during a hearing held Tuesday by the House Tourism Committee, chaired by Rep. Sylvia Corujo.
He noted that Navy officials have said that if the bombing range in Vieques is closed, the Navy's presence in Roosevelt Roads would be pointless.
Addressing fears concerning economic losses resulting from the base's closing, Corujo said that the Navy base at Subic Bay in the Philippines was successfully turned into a technological center and free trade port employing some 200,000 people after it was turned over to the Philippine government in 1991.
"Roosevelt Roads employs 2,500 people and only 500 of these are Puerto Ricans," he said. "Turning the base into a tourism and technological center has the potential of creating 100,000 jobs."
However, Rep. Jose Aponte Hernandez said after Ramey Air Base and Navy lands in Culebra were turned over to the Puerto Rico government, there were no great benefits to nearby residents. On the contrary, he said, developers have bought lands in Culebra, leaving its residents isolated.
Corujo said the base has the capacity to receive the latest in air nd sea transportation, including 600-passenger Airbus A-300XX planes and 140,000-ton Eagle ships, opening Puerto Rico to markets in Europe and Asia.
The base, he said, has three of the longest airstrips in the Caribbean, which may handle future growth in passenger traffic that may surpass capacity at Luis Munoz Marin International Airport.
A Navy spokesman said that the base has only one airstrip that is 11,000 feet long, but would not say how it compares to other airstrips in the Caribbean. He said the base's harbor can hold some 20 ships at a time.
"With access to these lands, there would be a tourism belt running from Coco Beach's Hotel Melia in Rio Grande to Palmas Del Mar in Humacao," Corujo said.
The House Tourism Committee is studying alternatives for boosting Puerto Rico's nautical tourism sector, which involves excursions by sailboats, yachts and motorboats to neighboring islands, keys and reefs, where visitors practice fishing, scuba diving and snorkeling.
Nautical Tourism is the leading tourism sector in the Eastern Caribbean, particularly in the British Islands.
Corujo's proposal would incorporate Roosevelt Roads into plans to turn the island's east coast, including Vieques and Culebra, into a center of nautical tourism in the Caribbean.
This will enable the island to compete with destinations such as the Bahamas, which is visited by more than 100,000 excursion vessels annually, Corujo said. The visits represent the same number of room nights for local hotels, he noted.
Corujo also proposed tax incentives to local and offshore companies that operate and lease boats for group outings. He suggested eliminating the 6.6 percent excise tax on vessels dedicated to nautical tourism.
During the hearing, Daniel W. Shelley, president of Marina and Boatyard Association of Puerto Rico, proposed an investment tax credit similar to that offered to condo-hotels for a period of five years to boost bareboat charter boats.
Excursion boat operators interviewed by The STAR agreed on the need to revise the Puerto Rico Tourism Act of 1994 to include small operator's vessels or their operations.
As the Puerto Rico Tourism Act of 1994 is today, tax incentives for the development of local tourism are offered to hotels, paradores, restaurants, marinas, land tour operators and theme park operators such as water parks, said Jaynne McLaughlin, president of Marine Transportation Partners, Inc. "But [the act] did not include marine excursion operators, deep sea fishing boats, and boats taking people out to snorkel and scuba dive," he said.
Land tour operators do not pay excise taxes on their buses, and marinas do not pay taxes on their equipment, McLaughlin said.
"It is important that we [small-boat operators] get some sort of relief to be able to keep up with other neighboring islands offering such activities," said Mclaughlin.
The companies that invest in Puerto Rico are not so naive to pursue a federal tax incentive only to be gouged by "the nasty Puerto Rican thieves".
What an absurd contention.
Where do you think Puerto Rico gets the taxes they collect, if they're not a portion HI-JACKED from the taxes that should have been paid to the USA by these companies?
You're too much, Willie.
Don't go to Puerto Rico. They'll sell you a bridge or maybe a Tren Urbano.
LOL!
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