President Donald Ramotar says that the planned Marriott Hotel is not going to put any hotel owner out of business, noting that Guyana would need many more rooms added to the stock of hospitality service providers.
Ramotar was speaking yesterday at the commencement of the Annual General Meeting of the PSC, held at the Pegasus Hotel, which is incidentally owned by one of the most vocal critics of the proposed Marriott Hotel, Robert Badal.
The Marriott Hotel is to be built at a cost of US$51 million and at the sod turning last November it was revealed that a Chinese company would be constructing the hotel.
The President said that Guyana must be prepared for an influx of guests coming here to do business and for leisure. It was the first time since becoming President that Ramotar has spoken so positively about the Marriott which was a project championed by his predecessor, Bharrat Jagdeo.
Ramotar said that local investors should want to expand their businesses because of what he called the encouraging climate in the country. But he acknowledged that there is corruption.
“I won’t stand here and say that there is no corruption in Government,” he said. “I support a simplified, fixed incentive scheme where everyone knows what is available so that they would not succumb to the temptation to pay for a service that they are entitled to free of cost.
He said that Government remains committed to the private sector and to an open and competitive economy. “The private sector will find a reliable partner in the government. We are [building an] enabling and encouraging business climate,” President Ramotar said.
He pointed out that Guyana’s participation in regional groupings is important to the country’s development as it will afford Guyana access to larger markets. He said that Guyana is on track in terms of its commitments to Cariforum and said that the Caricom Single Market and Economy will be fully realised.
He spoke of Government’s strengthening public financing and accountability since taking office and attacked the former PNC administration for its privatisation of national companies said to be done in a way that was less than transparent.
“I want to make the work of the Government as transparent as possible,” he said, noting that he would not be able to cross certain ethical barriers when it comes to confidentiality. “I have no problem with the media scrutinising the work of Government but I have a difficulty when speculation is presented as fact,” he said. He insisted that the PPP for which he is still General Secretary does not benefit from any ill-gotten gains.
Current Chairman of the PSC Ramesh Dookhoo said that Guyana should be a place where all views are respected and that there is a press that is less aligned and which can be fair to all concerned. “Some businesses are abused daily in the press and targeted by political parties who are not friendly to them. Private sector leaders are vilified by private sector businesses when they do not represent their individual cause,” he said. “While it is important to hold the executive accountable it is also important to do this in a responsible way,” he said, calling for the avoidance of groupthink.
“Let us revisit salaries, taxes, pension benefits for the public, GPL’s subsidy, water subsidies, social benefits and social services. These are issues that will create a better life for all Guyanese. Please let us stop using arithmetic as the basis for all our decision making,” he said.
Dookhoo called also for the reestablishment of all of the Constitutional Commissions, the Office of the Ombudsman and the tax tribunals. He called for anti-corruption legislation the type of which is used in England.
