I am an owner of a property in one of your 6, “Vision 2010” projects, namely the resort of Saidia in the Eastern area of Morocco, and would like to highlight the issues that local and overseas investors are experiencing.

I fully understand that the project was planned to attract foreign investment into Morocco, boosting Moroccan tourism and commerce, in the form of tourists, property sales and larger commercial and residential investment. Therefore, bringing huge revenues into Morocco, in the form of general investment, tax and tourist spending.

The only reason I purchased a property in Saidia, Morocco, is due to the fact that, His Majesty King Mohammad VI, was behind the concept and creation of the planned masterpiece. I thought the resort plan was absolutely amazing and I was completely surprised that such a 5 star project was available in Morocco. I applauded your vision and courage, and we completely trusted that this project would be fully completed by 2010 and to the 5* star standard that was promised.

The project plan confirmed to me that the resort would offer European and International owners the following 5* star facilities. 9 hotels, three 18 hole golf courses – a luxury marina, a shopping centre (Medina), a full sports centre, year round entertainment facilities along with 3500 touristic properties.

In May 2014, the resort currently offers just 2 Spanish hotels, the Be Live Hotel which is open, and the Iberostar hotel, again Spanish, will open in June 2014, but will close again in October. The 3rd constructed hotel, which is Moroccan owned, has no management company at this time, which is a real disaster for the resort.

The marina is still under construction, or looks like it, the shopping centre has only a few shops and is closed for most of the year, and is in a very poor state. The restaurants, bars and shops only really open for the 6 week summer holiday period around Ramadan! There are no sports facilities. There is no year round entertainment to encourage local and international tourists, and the resort is less than 40% constructed. There is just one open golf course – not the 3 18 hole courses that were promised. The golf club that is open is not

being promoted in Europe and is empty most of the year, and the clubhouse does not cater for overseas golfers, there is no food or drinks menu and also no entertainment. All the above issues are a major problem for Morocco and for the investors that have purchased within the resort of Saidia.

The resort, in the eyes of the World is a complete disaster.

His Majesty King Mohammad VI has improved Morocco, in general, beyond all recognition, your incredible achievements are clear for the World to see. However, the companies that you have trusted to start and complete the resort of Saidia have really let you down, completely under performed. Fadesa, Fadesa Martinsa, Addoha, and Excelia failed to deliver the resort, and the standard that was required by you, The King of Morocco, and your Moroccan and International Clients.

I fully understand that there has been an international crisis; however, this should not have affected a “Kings Project” in such a dramatic way.

The standard joke within the group of international and Moroccan investors is that they will need to build a special graveyard for the overseas and local investors that have died while waiting for the resort to be finished!

CDG have completed some excellent work since they took over the resort, they have been in control for over 2 years and have started the road and path repairs, built a new golf club house, planted trees and flowers, and have just started building 1 hotel and a touristic project close to the marina.

No one has seen the new resort plan, but CDG have verbally stated that they have plans to build a water park. This has not been confirmed. Even if this water park is constructed, if it is not open to the whole resort, it will not be a benefit to anyone apart from Pierre Vacances as a company and their clients!

The property owners here are extremely happy that the Sovereign / Royal Company of CDG are now in control of the resort, however, at the current progress pace of CDG, the resort of Saidia will not be completed until 2030, which is over 15 years away!! This would mean that the resort would be 20 years behind schedule. There is also no form of information channel from CDG to the owners of property on the resort. I know that collectively, the overseas investors have spent millions and millions of Euros / Moroccan Dirham’s in Saidia and believe that they at least deserve to know the new plans of CDG.

The resort is progressing; however, this process is very very slow and will take over 20 years to finish at the current pace. This is obviously not acceptable and not the concept that we were originally sold.

From the original resort plans, 2 large resort components are missing.

1 - Property Logic (Le Jardin de Fleur) - have 11 plots within the resort, the buyers are all extremely unhappy, as they have all paid large deposits for properties in Saidia, and they do not have anything to show for their investment. Many investors have taken legal action in Moroccan courts against Property Logic and have been successful in winning the case. However, there have been no refunds awarded, and the closure of the company has not been ordered by the Moroccan Legal system to move the situation forward.

2 - Oasis Golf and Beach resort – have several apartment and villa projects within the resort and not 1 brick has been laid. The investors have also paid large deposits and the project has failed to start. The situation is the same as with Property Logic.

It is obviously extremely important that these 2 large projects go ahead, to ensure that the whole resort of Saidia is salvaged from disaster!

Please can the Moroccan Government explain what is the plan to ensure these vital projects progress, as soon as possible? Will the projects be supported and financed? Or will the above companies be forced to sell their land assets to CDG or another organisation?

Not only are there issues with developers not completing the required projects, there is also a major issue with an existing project –

The Greens Residences I, II and III The apartments were constructed by a British company called AZD Morocco and are finished to a very high standard. Most owners are British and include 20 British Professional Footballers from Manchester United and other English Premier League and Championship teams.

Unfortunately, the apartments sits in waste lands, these waste lands should be a beautiful 18 hole golf course. Instead of looking over greens and fairways of a 5 star golf course, we look over mosquito infested, empty waste lands that are mainly flooded in winter and covered in rubbish in summer. One of the main reasons I purchased the apartment in the first place, was due to the apartment residences being situated in the centre of a 5 star golf course and resort. Not only do we have a golf course missing, we also have the unpleasant views of a part finished villa project that has been left by Excelia. www.greenssaidia.com

RT1 Oriental Pearl (Excelia)

RT1 – Oriental Pearl, constructed by Excelia / Addoha and managed by Madam Vacances. This project is a touristic residence on the beach front in Saidia Marina resort. This project has had many issues from the beginning, is it running 5 years late, there is a very poor standard of construction and finishing, however the main issue now is the management company, Madam Vacances, is refusing to pay the owners who have invested in this touristic project the “contracted” guaranteed rental income. The investors are contracted to receive 2.5% of the value of the apartment every year, plus an additional 20% of Madam Vacances rental income generated by the property. Most investors have not received any rental income since the opening of the RT1 resort, over 2 years ago.

There are always 2 sides to a situation, however, Madam Vacances has informed the owners that they cannot pay the contracted amounts as Excelia / Addoha owes Madam Vacances 6,000,000.00 Moroccan Dirham’s from unpaid construction invoices. The case is now with the Moroccan Court of Law and until the invoice is paid by Excelia / Addoha the owners will not receive the 2,000,000.00 Moroccan Dirham’s that they are due to them.

As this project is an RT classification, a Moroccan Government touristic project and not free hold, what is the Moroccan governments / Ministry of Tourism’s plan to rectify this disastrous situation?

AP6 – AP4 - AP2 Excelia

These apartments have been plagued with black stagnant water which the apartments overlook, this area was supposed to be parkland with trees & plants with seating areas, Instead the area is full of builders rubbish & mosquitoes.

Owners witness all the time people dumping their rubbish at the side of the road, and on the waste land which should be enjoyable parkland which was indicated on the original resort brochure when we first reserved the property, another eyesore to the right of our apartment is the unfinished block of apartments which should have been finished years ago. (AP8 – AP5 – AP3 Excelia)

Villa 3 – Excelia

These villas have been completed for several years and are used for holiday and permanent use. The owners are extremely angry as the golf course number 2 and 3 have not been even started, and the views are terrible. These are very expensive properties that should be looking over two golf courses, instead the views just offer waste land, rubbish and mosquitoes.

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Not only is the resort not completed, and there are major issues with existing hotels and touristic projects, the overseas owners find themselves further disappointed with the following issues:

• No direct flights from ANYWHERE in the United Kingdom to Oujda, Nador or even Melilla airports, making the trip to Saidia from anywhere in the UK extremely difficult and very expensive.

• The border crossing between Nador and Melilla is an absolute disaster area; dirty and disorganised, with very long queues to have your passport stamped, and an average wait of between 2- 4 hours to pass with a car. There are also ridiculous rules insisting that you have to take your foreign registered car or boat out of the country every time you wish to leave Morocco, even if you are visiting Melilla for just a few hours. The guards on the Moroccan side of the border make you feel like you are a common criminal, not a property investor / tourist spending, on average over 1.500,000.00 Million Moroccan Dirham’s! It seems that the local duty free smugglers from Nador take priority over serious and professional overseas investors and tourists. A new tourist friendly system needs to be implemented.

• Most overseas owners understood that if they purchased a property in Morocco it would be free from Government tax for 5 years. These owners have now been issued with “back dated” tax bills. If you live in Berkane you pay 250 DH per year, if you live on the construction site of Saidia Marina you pay 2500 DH, this is because the marina resort of Saidia is classed by the local tax office as a “Luxury 5* Star resort!!! This does not seem fair in anyway, as the resort is nowhere near finished, and has many years of construction in the future. I also understand that the tax bills are much higher in Saidia than in 5 star areas in Marrakesh, Tangier, Agadir and Casablanca!!

• The purchasing tax was raised from 14% to 20% several years ago, no one was informed and this was a complete shock to all the overseas investors, and left an extremely unpleasant feeling about the future of the investment in Morocco, it is disappointing that the extra 6% was not invested in the Saidia Marina resort and local area.

• Many overseas owners have mortgages and many properties in Saidia have been repossessed by the banks, and there will be many more in the future. This is because the properties cannot be rented out as the resort is not finished and there is no reason to come to Saidia for 10 months of the year. You can only rent for the short summer period after Ramadan, which does not cover mortgage repayments to the banks. The other problem is, when the banks do repossess the properties they resell them at much lower prices to Moroccan people. This was not your, King of Morocco’s objective, the Vision 2010 project was to attract and encourage overseas money to be invested into Morocco. If the problems in Saidia are not resolved very soon, the resort will cater only for Moroccan clients and the international clients will not visit the resort. Owners have requested assistance from the banks in form of an interest only mortgage; this would be to bridge the gap between the currently dead resort and up to a point where the resort is more established. Owners have also requested a review of the interest rate, as 6% is very high. However, the banks are unwilling to assist. They are also incompetent, inefficient and the communication is very poor, adding to the frustration of the whole situation.

• Ramadan also seems to be a major issue, the resort of Saidia is supposed to be an international tourist resort. So why does it close during Ramadan? If you are a tourist or property investor in Turkey or Dubai you do not experience a complete close down during Ramadan. I think the Moroccan government needs to decide if the resort is international, with foreign money being spent via tourists and investors, or a Moroccan resort, with zero overseas investment!

• It was interesting to read the document written by Ms Nadia ROUDIES (Secretary General – Moroccan Ministry of Tourism), implying that Vision 2010 has been a success, and that the Vision 2020 project is now in place to focus on further development of Mediterranean touristic projects. Also to increase Morocco’s levels of Environmental friendly “Green” activity. All the owners agree that this environmental issue needs to be reviewed urgently, as the story is told in Saidia, that the golf course and all the gardens of the “whole” resort are watered with pure drinking water, and the cost to keep the golf course green is over 10,000,000.00 Moroccan Dirham’s per year.

• The local electricity office is charging a total of 9082.00 MAD to supply an electricity meter (1500.00 MAD) and a power supply into a new property here in Saidia (7582.00 MAD). 9082.00 MAD is over 4 month salary for the average Moroccan working in the local area. I am English, coming from one of the most expensive Countries in the world, and this charge is viewed by the overseas owners to be ridiculous, and verging on criminal.

While writing this letter, I understand that that you will be visiting Saidia in early June. It is amazing what is happening on the resort, in the days approaching your visit, painting, cleaning, gardening, repairing roads and signs, adding safety barriers, and a plane is flying over everyday spraying anti mosquito chemicals! From an owner’s point of view, I wished you lived in Saidia, or visited every month then the resort would be finished within just 2 to 3 years, not the estimated 20 years.

The investors on the resort of Saidia politely requests His Majesty King Mohammad VI and the Moroccan Government to intervene, and push forward this disastrous situation. We also request that we have regular information from the responsible parties involved in the plans and progress of the resort.

 

The main issues that need addressing are as follows.

• Finish and Open golf course 2 and 3

• Open the 9 hotels that are planned

• Complete the empty plots within the resort – Force the developers to move forward or to take over the projects

• Improve the marina and medina area and facilities

• Construct the sports and leisure area (S1)

• RT1- Excelia - Madam Vacances Clients receive their contract rental income in full.

• Help the people from the East of Morocco to understand International Tourism

• Arrange direct flights from the UK to Oujda

• Review the tax issues and review the standard electricity installation charges

• Start communication with the International and local owners ( no one knows what is planned for the resort)

• Promote the resort in Europe and Internationally when the time is right

 

 

 

                          The Saidia International Owner’s Action Group