US$60M Marriott opening greeted by protest

Apr 17, 2015 News

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– APNU+AFC boycotts ceremony

By Kiana Wilburg
Anticipations were high for the much-touted grand opening of the Marriott

Hotel at Kingston, the first of its kind in these parts. It was supposed to be a major project initiated by the former administration and now being completed by the Donald Ramotar government.
Ahead of the May 11 general elections, it was expected to be a proud moment.
But the expected spectacular event complete with pomp and fanfare fizzled yesterday, falling short of expectations.
The mostly taxpayer-funded hotel saw heavy police presence and barricades around its environs, and as the proceedings of the event geared to start, protestors who were held at bay by police in front of the nearby Pegasus Hotel, broke the barrier and defiantly stood in front of the Marriott, waving their placards and chanting loudly.
There was a glaring absence of the Opposition at the event even though they were formally invited. Also absent was former President Bharrat Jagdeo, the man who pushed for the project despite misgivings by the Opposition.
Members of the A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC)

were among the protestors.
The police were unable to hold the demonstrators back, leading to a face-off at the entrance of the new hotel.
Even though the protests threatened to overshadow the planned proceedings at the US$60M hotel, it did not deter President Donald Ramotar from proceeding with the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The presidential car and security detail vehicles swept past the chanting protestors, into the compound of the hotel.
Government ministers seemed unfazed by the harsh comments of the irate taxpayers who were being blocked from protesting and in some cases, assaulted.
The opening ceremony was, surprisingly, quite short as it saw brief remarks from President Ramotar and Senior Vice President and Regional General Counsel of the Marriot International Inc., Brenda Durham.
Both said the event was indeed historic and that they look forward to seeing the success of the hotel in Guyana. Ramotar had also unveiled the plaque for the hotel with Durham at his side.
Keys were presented to the President; Minister of Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh; Minister of Tourism, Irfaan Ali, and NICIL head, Winston Brassington. Those present were also given the bronze-coated souvenirs.
While the red-carpet occasion continued, taxpayers were still engaged outside in heated exchanges with police officers.
The chant was on: “The Ramotar/Jagdeo administration is worse than the anti-christ. They are cruel. But they have three more weeks, three more weeks until they meet the end of the road.”
APNU Shadow Minister of Local Government, Ronald Bulkan, explained that the hotel represents a brazen act of corruption, and it is clear that the end is near for a dying government.
“I also want to speak on the barricading of all roads leading to the Marriott this morning (yesterday) where citizens sought a peaceful protest, but were prevented from so doing. While the PPP/C is running ads incessantly on the radio, television, print media, etc., boasting and bragging about having returned democracy to Guyana and that today, unlike in the past, people have the right and freedom of assembly and expression, what occurred today proved that they are lying.
“I want to call on them to pull these misleading ads forthwith and stop lying to the nation.”
Another protestor said, “I am just fed up. We need better schools and hospitals, but they hustle to open this structure born out of lawlessness. It makes me sick. They told us they were getting investors to fund it and then Brassington got the belly to turn around and tell the nation that he used millions of our tax dollars to build it. They are criminals in fancy suits and they need to go to jail.
“Just imagine I come out here to exercise my constitutional right and these police officers just pushing me and telling me how I can’t come here. Are these people serious? Is like this government just abusing us, spitting in our face every day and we like the fools, the stupid, dumb people they think we are, must remain silent. Well, not at all. This Government has pushed us to the limit and come May 11 they will feel the wrath of the people. They will know the power of the X.”
City Mayor Hamilton Green was also present. He said he was there to check the drainage systems, but was prevented from doing so. He alleged that two police officers assaulted him and arrested his security personnel. He was holding a placard too.
The 197-room Marriott Hotel in Kingston was hailed by Government as one of the special projects to boost tourism and hospitality. But it started off on a rocky road. From the transfer of the lands to the murky details of the financing, there were many questions from the Opposition, leading to clashes even in the National Assembly.
It was only after continuous pressure that Government finally released a partial feasibility study of the project.
From the inception of the project, it has been one filled with controversy, as billions of taxpayers’ dollars were spent by Government on the edifice and without the authority of the National Assembly. It was supposed to be a private/public partnership project. In the end, it ended up mostly a Government one. No big worry, except that Government is now planning to transfer a majority stake to a shadowy Hong Kong investor.
The lack of transparency and plans by Government to sell 67 percent of its equity to the equity investor for a mere US$8M, along with a host of tax concessions have angered Opposition as well as other hoteliers who have been struggling to fill rooms.
More than US$35M of taxpayers’ dollars were initially sunk into the hotel’s construction with no evidence of the hundreds of jobs promised during the construction to locals. The Chinese contractor, Shanghai Construction Group, reportedly imported scores of workers.
The still-secret concessions and other benefits of the Marriott Hotel have also been heavily criticized not only by the Opposition, but by other hotels which said the unfair playing field gave Marriott-brand structure a big advantage over them and would spell the death knell for them.
Last year, the Opposition, through Desmond Trotman, a former Parliamentarian, filed a court case blocking the hotel from transferring the lands and mortgaging it. It effectively blocked more than US$20M from coming in from the investors.
The calls are now on for Government to sell shares of the hotel to locals instead of a virtually unknown foreign investor.

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