Premier Ewart Brown appears to have failed to keep his promise that construction would begin on a new hotel at Club Med by the end of 2007.

The Premier's pledge on December 5 — that a five-star St. Regis hotel would be confirmed within a week and a half — has also fallen by the wayside.

Dr. Brown has not responded to The Royal Gazette's requests for an update on the future of the site which has been a bone of contention with St. George's residents for years.

But when this newspaper visited Club Med on New Year's Eve afternoon, there was no sign that construction had begun.

At a Progressive Labour Party meeting in Southampton on December 5, Dr. Brown told party supporters: "Within the next week and a half, I expect he (Carl Bazarian of investment firm Bazarian International) will be here to announce that that property is going to be the site of a new St. Regis hotel.

"If you think it's just talk, just watch and you will see. The agreement has already been signed with respect to the land. They are ironing out a few small details with respect to the brand itself."

It followed his pledge at a PLP meeting in St. David's in May: "Let me tell you I made a commitment: in 2007, construction will begin on the new hotel in St. George's. I can promise you it will be delivered."

The Premier has failed to answer all requests for an update since December 5.

Shortly before the General Election, Dennis Lister held a press conference to defend the Premier's comments in what proved to be one of his last acts before Dr. Brown dropped him as Works Minister.

Mr. Lister said the Premier had been talking in "general terms" when he said construction would begin in 2007.

"Part of that construction is pre-work. We have to begin prework so we can see development," said Mr. Lister.

On New Year's Eve, piles of debris lay on the ground outside the old Club Med dormitories, with at least one workman on the dormitories' first floor, where he appeared to be hammering. An empty digging machine was next to a pile of rubble where the clubhouse used to be.