Marriott Sale! Why an Expression of Interest?

Dec 25, 2022 Letters

Dear Editor,

The Government’s intention to sell the taxpayers’ funded Marriott Hotel via an Expression of Interest has raised many questions on its intent. It is widely felt that the Government’s policy of encouraging investments in the Hotel sector conflicts with its ownership of the Marriott Hotel, and therefore the proposed sale of the Hotel is recommended.

Therefore in the interest of securing the best price, an open, transparent process should be undertaken. This would involve having all audited accounts and other financial information be made public and accessible to all interested parties. An open tendering process ought to be followed instead of a mere Expression of Interest.

The Expression of Interest advertised requires interested parties to submit audited accounts, a bank commitment letter and show net worth of US$250M. The US$250M would exclude all Guyanese Investors while a bank letter is not possible without audited financial accounts of the Hotel, which the Government refused to publish.

Why then an Expression of Interest instead of an open, transparent public Tender?

Why not a public offer of the shares to local investors so that this asset, which Guyanese taxpayers paid for, is passed on to Guyanese.

The writing on the wall is clear. The Government has already selected who it wants to pass on this state asset to and is using an Expression of interest to exclude others.

Let’s see how effective are the Opposition Parties and the Private Sector in addressing this attempted, corrupt act.

Glenn Lall

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