Dear Editor, In reference to Government’s “no issues” statement regarding the road closure (‘No issues’: Government on Sheraton road closure, Cook Islands News, October 12). There are a couple of important issues that I can think of that need to be addressed.

A question of whether the conditions set for this hotel development in 1990 can be met today with what’s left of the shabby remnants.

Many of us will recall this disgrace. The Italian loan and project managed 5-star Sheraton Hotel. How it ended in government embarrassment, incompetence, theft and fraud, a complete failure at a cost to some eventually in excess of 100 million dollars.

The public deserve a proper scrutiny, not of what’s planned now but some sort of tangible guarantee that we are not going to end up with some shitty hodgepodge in exchange for a wonderful piece of public space.

The Government needs to reassess its “no issues” stance before the public make a stand to protect its public space – the Vaimaanga main road.

Brett Porter