Impression Inc appears to be the sole company of its kind selected to organize and run the International Building Expo which is slated for July 22-24, at Providence.
In the recent past, there have been complaints from similar businesses of being excluded from government contracts, even though they are capabl e of providing the same services. The owner of these companies, who wished not be named for fear of repercussions, said they believe business is being given to Impressions because of ties between the company and members of the government.
The issue of Impressions’ involvement with the Building Expo was raised at a ministerial outreach in Buxton, two Mondays ago, when a young businesswoman had questioned why she was sent to Impressions Inc. to secure a booth at the Expo, which will take place at Guyana National Stadium, Providence.
When asked about this issue, Minister of Housing and Water Collin Croal told Stabroek News that Impressions was not running the Expo, but that the ministry had set up a secretariat within the company’s building to deal with members of public who were interested in being a part of the Expo. He cited a lack of space at the ministry for this arrangement.
When Stabroek News visited Impressions’ office to take a photograph of the secretariat, it was told that the owner Patrick `Neal’ Sukhlal had to give permission for it to do so. A staff member said that Sukhlal was responsible for the secretariat. Also on the Building Expo website, Impressions’ email and phone number are listed as contacts. A call to the number listed verified information that Impressions was responsible for organizing and running the Building Expo. The company is the one that prospective exhibitors have to contact to acquire and pay for a spot.
Croal, however, a few days later told Stabroek News that Impressions was doing “branding and labelling” for the Ministry. He said that the company had been working closely with the Ministry on its “Dream realized”, project. Croal was unable to say how much Impressions was paid for these services. He also admitted that these services were not tendered for.
Stabroek News was unable to get a response from Sukhlal on the building expo despite numerous calls and a visit to his place of business.
A number of companies with comparable facilities for billboards and similar services had told this newspaper that government ministries and agencies’ contracts are handed to Impressions because of the closeness of the company to the administration.
Responding to those allegations, Sukhlal had told Stabroek News in June that he earns his money through hard work and aggressive marketing and not by favours from the PPP/C
Premium packages for spots at the Building Expo, which is hoping to attract investors both local and foreign, are going at $8 million. Gold packages are $5 million and silver is $3 million.
Other smaller packages are $1 million, $500,000, $450,000, $380,000, $200,000, $120,000, $60,000 with the cheapest being $15,000 for a table space.
