BEER bottles and broken plastic chairs litter the fairways of a derelict golf course on the Indonesian holiday island of Bali, where laid-off workers lament the unfulfilled promises of a Donald Trump “dream project”.
Nearly a decade ago, the real estate mogul and future US president inked a deal to license his name to a six-star holiday destination intended to displace the Nirwana Golf Resort, one of the world’s best.But today, the once-thriving golf course is filled with weeds – another failed project for Trump, whose six casino and hotel bankruptcies spanning two decades have run up billions of dollars in debt and impacted thousands of lives.
“There was no clarity about our future. We heard that we would be re-recruited but it has never happened,” said Ditta Dwi, a 26-year-old former caddy who was forced to take a waitressing job while awaiting a reopening that never came.
The Trump Organization and Indonesian developer MNC Group shut the resort in 2017 and laid off hundreds of workers after partnering to rebrand the Nirwana, which boasts idyllic views of the Indian Ocean.
The planned redevelopment – Trump’s first venture into South-East Asia’s biggest economy – was dubbed a “dream project” by his son Donald Trump Jr on a 2019 visit to Jakarta.
But Trump’s deal to license his name to the new resort and help operate it – first struck in 2015 – has turned out to be a pipe dream for Indonesian workers.
Five years after sending staff home, the hotel sits demolished and its course defunct, its forlorn fairways the domain of a solitary security guard who wheels around on a cart, warding off tourists.
The derelict, overgrown and empty site is a far cry from the luxury image Trump long maintained for his real estate interests before setting his sights on the White House.
But the property magnate, who recently announced that he will seek the presidency again in 2024, is no stranger to colossal flops.
Six times between 1991 and 2009, his casino and hotel projects fell into bankruptcy.
The first to fail, the Trump Taj Mahal in the beachside gambling mecca of Atlantic City, New Jersey, threatened Trump’s personal fortune.
To cover some of the casino’s debts, he had to sell off his yacht, private jet and half his shares. — AFP
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