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Guyana’s doomsday de facto head-of-state built Marriott in secrecy, selling it in secrecy

May 04, 2023 Letters

Dear Editor,

The termination of the sale of the government owned Marriott Hotel seems to be more of a cover-up for the highest bidder rather than the actual realization of an insufficient offer. I say this because all the bids were in the government’s possession for weeks therefore the shortfall of the hotel’s current value could have been publicly disclosed then, instead of such information being disseminated by way of a press conference by the VP at the Royal Palace on Robb Street. Now this begs the question: why is the government business being conducted at the head office of the PPP instead at the office of the President? Like the PNC in an earlier period, the PPP has returned the nation to Party paramountcy? Why is the sale of the Guyanese owned Marriott Hotel being conducted by one person who many saw the SU Gate interview by Isobel Yeung of Vice News?

From the inception, the Marriot Hotel project has been shrouded in secrecy and controversy under the Jagdeo administration which used millions of taxpayers’ dollars to build the hotel. Although the Jagdeo regime used more taxpayers’ money than the private investors to build the hotel, the private investors owned more shares in the hotel than the government. And in the event of the hotel is unable to service the loan – the private investors would have the first lien on the proceeds of any sale.

That is how the Russian economist spends our money. It is important to mention that during the 5-year construction period of the hotel, Guyanese was not given any meaningful jobs; steel benders, brick layers, concrete levelers, metal fabricators etc. were all imported from China.

Regarding the issue of the value of the Marriott, it will be prudent if the powers that be tell the nation what price is being sought for the hotel. It seems the self- anointed Chief Oil and Gas honcho, who claims to be an expert in Hydro Power, Bridge fabrication, Specialty Hospital construction, Sugar Factory building, Insurance finance etc., has built the hotel in secrecy, now he also selling it in secrecy. He is Guyana’s doomsday de facto head of state who makes all the decisions because he believes he knows everything and no one else. It is for this reason that he handpicked Donald Ramotar for the presidency in 2011 and Irfaan Ali in 2020, and both are failures like him.

The calculation of the value of real estate involves comparative market analysis (CMA) of residential properties while, in the case of commercial properties, three formulas are utilized: Replacement Cost, Market Value and Income generation.

  1. Property Value is the equivalent of Replacement Cost minus Depreciation plus Land Value.
  2. Property Value is the Net Operating Income .
  3. And Gross Rent Multiplier is equal to the Sales Price/Annual Gross Rents.

The Income Approach referred to as the Income Capitalization Approach is most used in commercial real estate transactions. The value is established by estimating the property’s income using the capitalization rate commonly, which is the net operating income of the property divided by its current market value (or sales price). We hope the government will not rush to sell the Marriott Hotel without taking into consideration the above-mentioned calculation. However, based on experience of how this government has conducted the affairs of the country for 23 years, we should expect some underhand dealings. It will be fool hardy to think otherwise.

Leyland Chitlall Roopnaraine

Real Estate Broker (25 years) New York

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