Developer Frederick Moe.

Frederick Moe, project manager and partner in the $8 billion Felicitas development, says the project will remain on hold until the 500 truckloads of stolen sand are recovered.

But, if the police fail to track down the stolen sand, the investors would have up to a 100-year wait for new sand to grow there, scientists have said.

Felicitas is a resort project of 36 six-star luxury villas to be developed on coastal property in Coral Spring, Trelawny.

Four months ago, the sand on the beach vanished, some 500 truckloads of it, creating one of Jamaica's most bizarre robbery mysteries.

Moe, the managing director of Felicitas Limited, said nothing had happened at the site since the sand was stolen in July.

"We are working with the police and as soon as the investigations are completed, we will go from there," he told the Financial Gleaner in an interview on Wednesday.

Making headway

Moe said the police were making headway in the investigations.

It could, he said, cost the investors about J$100 million to truck sand back to the site.

The other option would be to wait on nature to reproduce the sand. But according to a geological expert this could take up to a century.

Felicitas Limited, had planned to build a spa, restaurant, amphitheatre and marina in phase one of the development.

According to Moe, he had just received approval from the relevant agencies to commence the project, and that they had spent hundreds of millions on site preparations.

Disheartening

He said the theft was disheartening.

"It is devastating," he told the Financial Gleaner.

"You are trying to do your business and then a significant portion (disappears)," he said in reaction to the incident.

dionne.rose@gleanerjm.com