GCCI to seek clarity over Marriott taxi service contract to “foreign” company

Aug 30, 2022 News

Kaieteur News – The Georgetown Chamber of Commerce & Industry (GCCI) will be seeking clarity on the process used by the Guyana Marriot Hotel to select an operator to provide taxi service to the facility.

Marriott Hotel, Kingston

GCCI President Timothy Tucker told the newspaper yesterday that the agency will be seeking information from the hotel since some of its members had also submitted bids for the taxi service contract. Local taxi operators had complained that a “foreign” company was selected to service Marriott, while locals are being pushed out as the contract was handed to the Trinidadian company. When contacted, Tucker related that GCCI was not aware of who got the Marriott contract when the agency’s name was put to him.

Tucker noted however that the named Trinidadian company is a member of the GCCI, “as well as we have members within the chamber that would have bid for the contract.” Based on what was highlighted in the newspaper, Tucker said, “we are just in the process of reaching out to Marriott to have a discussion with them, to see what exactly, is the reality of the situation.” Tucker related that the chamber had decided last week to write to Marriott for a meeting and they are currently following up on this.

Outside of this, the newspaper understands that taxi drivers currently employed at Marriott will be seeking an audience with the Ministry of Tourism to see how the administration could intervene. One taxi driver who spoke with this publication said that the Marriott situation is a serious one for drivers who have been operating at the hotel for years “even through the Covid,” to now be discarded. The driver who provided his name said there are several issues wrong with the current matter, especially where fears about the Trinidadian company being solely responsible to service the entire Marriott chain is concerned. A US$50M Marriott AC Hotel is slated and the driver believes that the Trinidadian company will be utilized, further pushing out locals.

The driver, who said he had been operating at Marriott since its inception, continued that taxi operators do not believe the bid process was done fairly. He expressed that a local taxi agency had applied to service Marriott and won the bid, but later withdrew. He said that taxi agency had engaged him as well as other drivers to conduct work under the new contract, and was in the process of making the adjustments. However, he said, when the named taxi service withdrew their service, the bid was not retendered, and then it was heard that the “foreign” company would be providing the service. The taxi driver’s argument however, is that even if the local company withdrew, there were other persons interested in bidding, including himself. When asked, the driver said he did not bid the first time because many drivers were not aware that the hotel had put out a bid. He said “certain people” would be aware of such information.

Additionally, the driver continued, the hotel is seeking certain requirements from the local drivers. One of those is for drivers to upgrade their vehicles, and currently, some operators would have already upgraded to CRVs and X-trails among other high-end vehicles. “They are telling us to hold on for the next two months (when the new company comes on stream), but what gon happen then,” the man questioned. He explained that taxi drivers spend large amounts of money to upkeep their vehicle. For instance, he said he pays full insurance for his vehicle and provides full insurance coverage for his passengers which increase payments to maintain his livelihood. Other drivers, he said, could not afford to upgrade their vehicles and they would not have been allowed to participate with the new agency. To that, the taxi operator said, “Guyanese should not be allowed to be tenants in their own country.” He said this is not a highly skilled trade so Guyanese should be allowed to capitalize on the sector. He insisted too that authorities should ensure Guyanese are not “pushed out” in this manner. “If they don’t coach the small man and help us, how will we develop and grow like the others. How will locals be able to rise if you don’t give them a chance?”

When Kaieteur News made contact with the local who placed a bid to provide the Marriott taxi service, he told the newspaper that he withdrew from the bid because the returns could not pay. He said if he could not make a decent return from the job neither could the men employed under him.

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