Latest update February 10th, 2025 2:25 PM
Controversial Duke Street property not sold yet – Luncheon
As questions continue to swirl over the proposed sale of the property next door to Duke Lodge, in Kingston, Government says that it has not yet sold it.
Government has said it has not yet sold this Kingston property called the Office of Empowerment. At right is Duke Lodge.
According to Cabinet Secretary, Dr Roger Luncheon, while there are ongoing talks with the bidders, Cabinet has ‘instructed’ the Ministers in charge of the sale to meet with the bidders.
The government, National Industrial and Commercial Investments Ltd (NICIL) and the Privatisation Unit (PU) had issued a recent statement saying that Government is not bound to sell to the highest bidder or any bidder.
On July 27, last, Cabinet approved the sale of Lot 52 or 93B Duke Street, Kingston, to Anthony Reid for the sum of $63M plus VAT.
A notice of bid approval was sent to Reid late July notifying him of the decision. However, Reid on August 10, withdrew his bid, which left El Dorado Trading with the next highest bid of $49.5M.
The government, in the statement, noted that a second ranked bidder has no automatic right to succeed the number one ranked bid, if the number one bidder does not conclude a purchase or withdraws their tender.
The property, which is called the Office of Empowerment, was advertised for sale from May 31, 2009 to June 16, 2009. Five bids were received and a recommendation was made by NICIL to sell to the highest bidder who was Reid.
According to the Kaieteur News report on Wednesday, the second bid on the property was $49.5M by El Dorado Trading while owner of Duke Lodge, Captain Gerry Gouveia had bid $43M.
According to the statement, where Government opts to sell a property to a party other than the highest bidder, it either does so due to price being one of a number of criteria or it adopts a position, that the sale price shall be no less than the highest available bid price and that development benefits accompany the sale to maximize the economic benefits to the country.
In early 2009, Government considered a similar case with the sale of Herdmanston House to Michael George, who was the second highest bidder. Although the second ranked bidder by price, Cabinet approved the sale to Michael George at a price no less than the highest bid price, having regard to the developmental considerations.
These included that: Michael George operates a hospitality business immediately next to Herdmanston Lodge and wished to expand this business; considerable investment will be expended to upgrade the Herdmanston property to that of a boutique hotel; the expanded business would create an expansion of employment; the business would add to the growing tourism and hospitality industry.
In a statement, the Privatisation Unit said that it has in the past been accused of sometimes looking only for the best price and ignoring development benefits.
“It is well known that the hospitality industry offers many development benefits including investment and employment of a large number of persons.
“The case of Roraima Duke Lodge is no different from Herdmanston Lodge. Roraima currently employs in excess of 20 persons at the Duke Lodge location, next to the Office of Empowerment,” the Privatisation Unit noted.
Should the government conclude a sale with Roraima, it will be on the basis of a price no less than the highest available price (currently G$49.5M from El Dorado Trading) and after consideration of the development benefits of an expanded Duke Lodge operating in the hospitality sector, according to the statement.
Also, it was stated, the government would not lose any income from the sale while at the same time promote the expansion of the hospitality industry and employment. This approach is not inconsistent with the tender documents issued and precedents established such as the recent sale of Herdmanston, Head of the Privatisation Unit Winston Brassington said.
In 2007 when the sale of Duke Lodge was advertised, Roraima bid the highest price of $140 million (plus VAT) from a total of nine bids. Cabinet approved this sale in 2008 and the sale was subsequently concluded. The sale was based on a public tender, it was stated.
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
Forward to the past
Peeping Tom… Kaieteur News-Guyana’s debt profile, both foreign and domestic, has become a focal point of economic... more
OAS Secretary General Election and renewed OAS Consensus
Antiguan Barbudan Ambassador to the United States, Sir Ronald Sanders By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News- The upcoming election... more
Weekend Cartoon
