Ramotar denies Sleepin Hotel given excessive concessions

Former President Donald Ramotar today denied that the SleepIn hotel was given concessions beyond what it was entitled to.

A Statement by Donald Ramotar, former President follows:

I have seen the article headlined ‘MOU between PPP/C Government and Sleep-In secured concessions galore’ in the Kaieteur News of October 13, 2017. The impression given is that the MOU offered more generous concessions than was the norm.

I wish to state categorically that Sleep-In Hotel did not get a single concession that was not available for the type of investment it was making.

The main aspect of that MOU was that the recipient of the concession had to   construct a hotel with not less than one hundred and fifty rooms.

The reason for this was stated many times before. It was part of our strategy in developing and promoting tourism.  Creating jobs for our people and diversifying our economy.

Mr. Clifton Bacchus has delivered on those conditions and is, therefore, entitled to the concessions. The Sleep-In Hotel employs a large amount of Guyanese. It could do much more in employment and revenue generation if the APNU regime was more investor-friendly.

I have spoken to Mr. Clifton Bacchus, the owner of Sleep-In, and he assured me that in all the materials used for construction of the hotel were made in Guyana,  this includes furnishers, etc. In the process he created jobs for hundreds of other Guyanese and created tax revenues in the millions for our treasury.

I am proud that this investment began under my Presidency. It holds out great benefits to our whole country.

The media would be serving a much better purpose if it encourages investment instead of attempting to disparage them. Our country would advance further and faster.

 

Donald Ramotar

Former President