An unprofessional outburst

Jun 15, 2014 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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It was most disgusting to note the scurrilous attack made recently by a top public functionary against the Pegasus Hotel (Guyana).  This onslaught was made on public television and would therefore have reached a mass audience.
The attack was unnecessary and unjustified, and coming from a senior public functionary was all the more repulsive and unprofessional.
Public officials are paid by the public purse. They have a duty to secure the public interest within their own field. It is therefore unprincipled for such an official to be sullying the image of the country’s premier international hotel in a sickening attempt to justify the construction of another hotel.
It is also regrettable that a private sector hotel which is the best hotel in Guyana at the moment, and which is patronized by important figures both inside and outside of the country, should have its reputation so debased in an attempt by the government to justify and promote a public-private partnership.
I have not heard the Private Sector Commission utter a word of reprimand as yet against this appalling attack on one of its members. And I do hope that the captains of Guyana’s private sector would not stay silent in the face of this unethical and reprehensible attack on what is considered by many foreigners and locals as the best hotel that Guyana has at the moment.
Now if we are going to promote tourism in Guyana, you cannot have public officials bad-mouthing the country’s top hotel as was done recently on public television. But of course, some public officials take their cue from their former leaders, one of whom made similar statements to that which was made recently by this public official.
The Pegasus Hotel may not meet the standards that some of our former leaders who came from humble beginnings may be now accustomed to. But it is still the best hotel at the moment in Guyana, and therefore it needs to be supported. No one, least of all a top public functionary, should be running down this hotel.
What will foreigners think of this country when they learn that a senior public official was bad-mouthing the country’s top hotel? They will find it funny, of course, because they would expect more professional behavior from those who are paid from the public purse.
They will ask themselves just what is going on here. They will wonder how it is that a public official can be saying such awful things about a major private sector hotel which was good enough for the Queen of England. And it was also good enough for Jimmy Carter, former President of the United States.
Is this also not the same hotel at which the Commissioners of the COI into the death of Walter Rodney are staying? Even though one top government official had recommended that they stay at another hotel in the city, the commissioners opted to stay at the Pegasus.
This is the very hotel where international cricket administrators and officials were scheduled to stay had Guyana been allowed to host the Third Test Match in the series between the West Indies and New Zealand. This is the same hotel that international cricket teams stay when they are in Guyana. Why then make these disgusting criticisms of the hotel which is patronized by the Who’s Who in Guyana on weekends?
Is this how we intend to promote tourism in Guyana? Are we really serious about improving our national airport so as to attract tourists? If we are, how it is then that this public official can be criticizing a major operator in one of the key segments of the tourism sector, the hospitality segment. This attack is tantamount to shooting ourselves in the behind.
How helpful is this attack in the context of Guyana promoting its tourism product. The CPL will bring many tourists to Guyana in a month’s time.  There is a Guyana Festival coming up in August. Jamzone will also be held during that month. Foreign investors will descend on Guyana for GO-Invest. What message will they take from this unnecessary and scandalous attack on the Pegasus?
Many new airlines are now operating out of Guyana, increasing competition in the airline, driving down fares and bringing in tourists. Why in the face of all these things which will boost the local tourist industry is a senior public functionary going to go on national television and speak about things falling off the ceiling and about the quality of the water at Pegasus? How does that help this country?
Why the attack on the Pegasus? If this hotel is so bad how come the very individual making the criticisms has often been seen at that very facility?
I can understand the desperation in trying to justify the need for public funds into the new hotel that is being built next door to the Pegasus. But why run down a historic institution in Guyana just in order to support what many analysts consider a flawed model used in the construction of the Marriott Hotel? Why does it have to be a quid pro quo? Why in order to justify the Marriott, the reputation of the Pegasus must be destroyed?
I hope that the President of Guyana takes note of this attack by a senior public functionary. This attack is in direct contradiction to statements made by one of his ministers of finance on a recent Hard Talk Radio show on 90.1 Fm. On that show the minister was pellucid in asserting that the purpose of the Marriott was not to replace or put the Pegasus out of business. He made it crystal clear that even with the Marriott there will be a need for the Pegasus. Why then did the public official have to take a line that was at odds with what the minister said?
There cannot be doublespeak when it comes to national policy. The President needs to ensure that he reins in this sort of unbecoming conduct by government officials before its hurts Guyana further.

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