NICIL Director shows two faces on release of Marriott contract

Sep 04, 2016 News

…now says it cannot be released since terms of Agreement are “strictly confidential”
While it conforms to the principles of transparency and accountability, NICIL’s Chairman, Dr. Maurice

NICIL Chairman,
Maurice Odle

Odle expressed that when it comes to the release of certain agreements and contracts signed under the previous administration, there are some “constraints”.
With this in mind, Odle said that in the case of the Marriott Management Agreement, it cannot be released, as the terms of the document are “strictly confidential”.
In a statement to the media on Friday he said that the agreement cannot be disclosed without the written consent of Marriott.
However, Odle’s comments are in stark contrast to those he gave Kaieteur News on June 17, last, on the said contract.
Using the same line of “transparency and accountability” Odle had stressed that the contract for the controversial Marriott Hotel should be made public.
In fact, Odle remarked that too often, the citizenry hears of agreements being made between the Government and private parties and when there is a call for scrutiny to take place, “the infamous confidentiality clause is invoked.”
The NICIL Chairman added, “And where there is too much confidentiality clause it leads to corruption as in the case of the Marriott Hotel. For the Marriott, too many confidentiality clauses led it into the avenue of corruption. All those different confidentiality clauses they were invoking led to a set of actions which cannot be substantiated.”
Odle had emphasized that the more the nature of such agreements are known to the electors and the taxpayers, on whose behalf the Government is acting, the better it will be for the accomplishment of good governance in Guyana.
Asked to say if he will provide a copy of the Marriott Hotel contract to the media, he had remarked, “I am Chairman of NICIL and not Atlantic Holdings Inc. (AHI) which is the Board overseeing the operations of Marriott. Beverly Harper is in charge of the AHI and they should have a copy of the Marriott Hotel contract at hand and it should be released to the public. There may be a copy of the contract buried somewhere at NICIL, but AHI has easier access to it.”
The NICIL Chairman said that he is all for transparency and accountability and insists that such agreements should not be treated as “state secrets.” He had said that the Marriot Hotel contract should be in the public domain for all upright and concerned citizens to peruse.

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