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FRIDAY,
MARCH 13, 2015
Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves took his once political ally Ken Boyea to task for the reasons Boyea gave for the closure of the KFC chain of restaurants. by DAYLE DA SILVA PRIME MINISTER Dr, Ralph Gonsalves has weighed in on the recent closure of three KFC restaurants here, following action by Receivers appointed by Nova Scotia Bank. While he said on Tuesday, during a press briefing, that he regretted what happened
VOLUME 109, No.11
with the former fast food chain, which was operated by Ormiston ‘Ken’ Boyea, the Prime Minister took umbrage with reasons for the closure as stated by Boyea.
Miscalculations Boyea told at least two media outlets here, immediately following the closure of the three outlets, two in Kingstown and one in Arnos Vale, that he expected that the International Airport
This KFC outlet was the first of three to open its doors in SVG.
Argyle would have been completed by now, and that Arnos Vale, where the most recent location was set up, would have already been turned into the proposed new city. But Dr. Gonsalves said that he believed that the majority of the members of the private sector here had a fair understanding of the situation, which led up to the taking away of the KFC franchise licence from Boyea. “So the point is this, I don’t know… first of all, Ken Boyea has been a very good business man in this country, one with a very good track record. I don’t know what all the reasons are, and I don’t know when he said what he was quoted as saying,” the Prime Minister said. “He said that he anticipated that the airport was going to come and the city a little earlier. Let’s just deal with the years. You started to build the place in 2010, out at Arnos Vale, he said the airport was to be completed in 2012 to 2014, does anyone expect that the city would be built at Arnos Vale in less than five years?,” Dr. Gonsalves questioned rhetorically.
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A ‘throwaway line’ According to Gonsalves, the franchise recorded a five percent growth in revenue during one of the most economically challenging years — 2010. He said he believed that Boyea may have made the comment as a “throwaway line,” and that with two operating branches in Kingstown and a third constructed in Arnos Vale, this (the third) would only be opened if the demand could not be supplied. The single most significant contributing factor which accounted for the shutting down of the business, according to Dr. Gonsalves, was the point Boyea made about spending too much money. “To me, that is the germane issue. I don’t see how, if you say you build this place and you couldn’t get the top floors rented and had to take the money from the franchise, well it means the mortgage was too high,” Dr. Gonsalves deduced.
Ormiston Ken Boyea was the only holder of a KFC franchise in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Minister expressed concern for the workers. “I understand from all the information that I have got from talking to persons, that the owners of the Kentucky franchise are exploring other persons, so I expect that sometime in the not too distant future we will be hearing announcements about which entity has been awarded the franchise, and when business is expected to start,” Dr. Gonsalves told the news persons at the briefing. He added that he was also hopeful that a Vincentian entity would take over the operations of the restaurants.
Holding out hope Shifting the focus away from Boyea, the Prime
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