| 19 May 2017 |
| Carol Parkinson’s Personal Account of the Owners’ Meeting at the Resort on 17th May 2017 |
| I managed to get on to the resort unhindered because a large group of Spanish visitors had arrived at reception. 42 owners attended. We were soon joined by Steve, the salesman, Jose Jiminez (Salvador’s manager) and Onagrup representatives, who were present in force. Abel (the self-proclaimed Resort Manager and ‘owner ‘of the resort) introduced himself as a Deputy Director. Also present was the Onagrup employee who buys drinks for some owners, and assaults others, a woman who now occupies Salvador’s office plus another man. Jose gave an introduction saying in effect that this meeting was an owner ‘get together ‘ introduced many years ago for the manager to give a report on what was happening on the resort and not for the committee to usurp. Abel then introduced himself and, amongst other matters, told everyone that Onagrup’s intention is to upgrade the resort to raise it to the standard of its other resorts. Owners were told of the plans Onagrup had to spend our money. These included; soft beds ’because it is important to sleep well on holiday’, new furniture for villa balconies, all baths to be replaced by showers because ‘they are more hygienic’, a refurbishment of the resort and a complete refurbishment of the swimming pool that he claimed had been agreed. It has not! This is a capital spend (as is the general refurbishment) that requires the agreement of the committee and an AGM resolution for owners to vote on. Don’t be fooled. This is the start of the slippery slope that we have warned you about – to use the Club’s ‘sinking fund’ i.e. our reserves, then put up maintenance to replace it to the point where you cannot afford it anymore and you eventually ask them to take your weeks back. Over time they would own the resort. There is much evidence to confirm that this is how Onagrup operates. A shrewd owner interrupted Abel’s flow to ask if the customer care that he had said was an Onagrup feature included letting all owners into their villas on Friday. As Abel talked round in circles, and was helped out by owners with a number of calls to answer the question, he was eventually backed into a corner and had to say ‘no’ not if they hadn’t paid the ‘legitimate administrator, Onagrup’. Onagrup is not the legitimate administrator for the Club – its contract expired on 2nd May 2017. Cross examined by a determined owner, Abel talked and talked and tied himself into knots. Prompted periodically with whispered comments by Jose Jiminez he responded to owners’ questions about why some owners weren’t being allowed to access their villas using words such as ‘corporate decisions’, ‘power struggles’, etc. etc. Eventually owners had heard enough as he went round in circles so the Onagrup people were asked to leave the room so that we could have a private meeting. At this point several owners left the room, either because they were not interested or did not want to hear anything unpleasant whilst on holiday. It was a struggle but eventually Steve and the Onagrup people left the room and I was able to give the group feedback on events since I arrived on the Island on the 11th May. This included accommodating owners who were refused entry, a meeting with Onagrup and our 2 lawyers, accompanying owners to the police station to make statements and a four hour interview on a ‘trumped up’ fraud charge instigated by German Castro. The latter is currently with the court for a decision about proceedings. Roy Adams, Escritura owner, gave feedback from El Marques where he is also an owner. Onagrup has undertaken a €90K (approx) refurbishment of the resort’s main kitchen completed by Onagrup’s own company, with no tendering process to obtain the best price. The meeting ended positively with an agreement that owners who had stayed behind would spread the word about all that was really going on. I will report again on next week’s meeting if I can get onto the resort! Carol Parkinson Club President/Club Owner |