‘Keep Jagdeo away from valuable State Assets’ –

Dec 25, 2022 News

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…Opposition says as Marriott Hotel up for sale

Kaieteur News – The recent announcement to sell the Guyana based Marriott Hotel continues to raise questions regarding the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Government and particularly its General Secretary and current Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo, over the questionable handling of state assets.

The Marriott project had been a contentious one with citizens arguing against the cost of the hotel which they said was not necessary at the time and would need a casino to be made profitable.

The project was nonetheless touted to be a good investment by the PPP as they argued the need for such a facility in the country. The turbulent life of the project so far involved threats by the Opposition to shut down construction of the facility as they viewed it as a waste of taxpayers’ money since the core revenue earners, restaurant, casino and nightclub, were going to be operated by private individual(s).

The Government almost lost the hotel to the bank it borrowed money from and saddled taxpayers with a more than $220M bill every six months, because the company created could no longer make payments.

Now the Government is set to sell the facility despite the hotel’s success in filling rooms due to the development of the oil and gas industry.

The situation has not only caused Opposition members to demand that Government make public all information relating to the hotel’s financial position, but that they also keep Vice President Jagdeo away from state assets.

The A Partnership for National Unity +Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) said that Jagdeo cannot be trusted with state assets. They said that the VP engages in underhand deals and his continuance within the Government shows their support for what is happening.

“As APNU+AFC has said before, VP Jagdeo must remove himself or be removed from all financial or investment transactions involving state assets, including the intended sale of Marriott,” the Coalition said. It noted that the people of Guyana no longer trust the Vice President and that, “his continued involvement can only mean that the entire PPP Government is complicit in these underhand deals.”

AFC Leader, Khemraj Ramjattan, during a Press Conference last week questioned why the hotel was up for sale when it appeared that the oil boom was now making the facility successful.

Ramjattan called for full parliamentary scrutiny of any State asset being privatized and added his voice to calls for the release of Marriott’s financials. The AFC Leader had said that his party does not believe exclusively that certain assets of the State have to be privatised if they are profitable. He said that given the oil development that is drawing foreigners and investment to the country, the Marriott could be one of those assets that could provide returns.

“But the rule of thumb, knowing how corrupt the PPP is, we feel that it is a privatisation that will happen to certain friends and family and or personages who are going to give huge kickbacks to PPP,” Ramjattan noted.

Jagdeo as well as his party has come under immense criticism for their handling of state projects and assets over the years some of which have ended up in the hands of people close to the party.

The party has been accused of condoning bribery and other corrupt practices when conducting state business, an allegation that was confirmed by Chinese national Su Zhirong who in an undercover Vice News documentary just months ago, described himself as a middleman for Jagdeo and collected bribes on his behalf.

In the same documentary other Chinese nationals confirmed bribing Government Officials and others in authority. It also highlighted an elaborate multi -country money laundering ring, of which it is assumed that the Government is aware since one of the launders claimed that it was through their portal millions and millions of dollars in bribe money is funnelled.

Jagdeo described Su as his friend and tenant at one of his properties when asked about him by VICE. Following the documentary’s release, Su fled the jurisdiction. Jagdeo has since threatened to sue the Chinese businessman, but the Irfaan Ali led Administration has taken no action against the Vice President, nor did they investigate the accusations.

The APNU+AFC referenced Saturday’s Kaieteur News editorial titled, ‘Why sell the Marriott now?’ and quoted “Because the people of this country have been burned so badly and so often by a tricky, devious PPPC Government, it is our belief that there is a more pointed question to be asked.  What new trick is at work here with this December announcement of preparing to sell the Marriott?  When a Government and its main operators have compiled a shabby record of costly deceptions and endless skullduggeries, this is what citizens inevitably conclude.”

They said that those who benefited extravagantly from the inception with this “transformational project” like pigs at a banquet, now stand to benefit even more through underhanded dealings.

Under the David Granger Government, former National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) CEO, Colvin Heath London, had said in 2020 that things were looking up for Marriott.

He said that while at the time of its concept the hotel needed support to fill rooms, the oil boom alone had now solved that problem. Things seemed to be going so well for the hotel that the former CEO said that the facility would no longer need to build the casino. The government at that time was instead prepared to add more rooms to the facility. Guyana has not received an update on the hotel’s financial position since.

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