7000 jobs, US$25M in limbo as…Housing Ministry and City Council clash over power to approve 7-storey Camp Street plan
Millions of United States (US) dollars are now in limbo as two agencies – the Mayor and City Council
Businessman,
Rizwan Khan
(M&CC) and the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) – are at odds over the decision to give a popular local businessman permission to construct an additional floor on his Camp Street, Georgetown building.
The Businessman, Rizwan Khan, the Managing Director of RNK Investment Limited, was slapped with an injunction from the CH&PA restraining him (the defendant) from carrying out works on the seventh floor.
Khan told Kaieteur News that over three years ago, RNK had applied for the building plan for the sixth storey and when fire struck the building last year July, the plan was at CH&PA awaiting approval.
“We went to CH&PA and said that we wanted the plan changed from 6 to 7 storeys and the CH&PA told us that we cannot take the plan out of the system and we have to do an amendment for the additional floor which we did in September last year. The plan has been there over ten months, so it’s not like we wake up the next morning and said that we wanted an additional floor.”
Letter of refusal
Prior to the injunction, CH&PA sent a “Letter of Refusal” dated July 19, 2016 to RNK Investments outlining several reasons for refusal. One of these is that the additional floor will lead to deformation of the existing building skyline, thus rendering the development incompatible.
Khan said that he submitted a letter to CH&PA making references to several buildings in Georgetown that are as high as, or higher than the buildings located around them. He listed the Marriott Hotel, Pegasus Hotel, Bank of Guyana, St. George’s Cathedral, City Hall and Gravity Lounge amongst others.
Another reason for not granting approval was due to the absence of verifiable construction details and that the structural integrity of the building would be compromised beyond six storeys, the report stated.
Khan explained that though the initial plan catered for six storeys, the foundation was done to cater for more to accommodate the seventh floor because of the request he had submitted three years ago.
He further stated that a structural analysis of the building was done by Pitt Incorporated and a Structural and Geo-technical Assessment, by the Caribbean Engineering and Management Consultants (CEMCO). Both reports showed that the building can accommodate the additional floor.
A photo of the building located on Robb and Camp Streets, Georgetown. (File Photo)
After CH&PA issued the refusal letter, a letter in response to the refusal points was, along with copies of the structural Analysis of the building, sent to the CH&PA, Town Clerk, Mayor of Georgetown and the City Engineer for a review of the disapproved plan for the seventh floor, at the end of July 2016, Khan stated.
CH&PA never responded to the request for review despite the fact that several attempts were made to have dialogue with the authority, Khan said.
On August 24, 2016, Khan received a letter from the Town Clerk, Royston King, which stated that the M&CC during a Statutory Meeting which was held on August 22, 2016, considered the works that were ongoing at the structure – located at Robb and Camp Streets – and gave its no objection to the addition.
King in his letter stated that the matter was reviewed by the ‘relevant agencies’ who possess the statutory responsibility for such works and related activities as stipulated in the Georgetown Building By-Laws, and section 301 (22) of the Municipal and Districts Council Act Chapter 28:01.
As if to sum it up, Khan said that the M&CC gave its no objection and claims to be the entity with the power to grant the approval whilst the CH&PA has filed an injunction barring the construction of the additional floor declaring it illegal; citing that the defendant is in contravention of the Town and Country Planning Act, Chapter 20:01 of the Laws of Guyana.
Between a rock and a hard place
Because of this predicament, Khan has found himself between a rock and a hard place, since commitments were already made to a foreign investor who has already expressed interest to rent the third, fourth, fifth, six and the proposed seventh floor for the purpose of establishing a call centre – which Khan touted, will afford over 7000 citizens the opportunity to be employed.
Khan in a recent interview had pointed out that the opportunity to have such an investment which has the ability to create so many jobs, has been shot down at a time when the country is in dire need of foreign investment; as it struggles to wiggle itself out of the unemployment rut that it has been in for more than half a decade now.
Further, Khan is irate, since the works have been stalled and he still has to pay millions of dollars in interest on the loan he took from the bank. Khan is worried that the investor might grow impatient and eventually “pull out” resulting in the building becoming a “white elephant.”
“On this project I spent more than a billion dollars. I’m supposed to hand over the floors to the foreign company which is opening a Call Centre to provide employment for 7000 persons – three shifts. The bank closed off the financing of the project until this matter is resolved. But I still have to pay $6M to $10M every month in interest on the money invested on the building. Also, the investor is going to spend US$20M to set up the Centre and they are also calling to get the matter sorted out.” Khan said.
He added also that the investor is already in the process of shipping building materials to set up the Call Centre.
“Twenty to 30 40-feet containers in the system on its way to Guyana…plus I am investing US$5M. The investor is going to bring in US$60M per year in salaries. P.A.Y.E (Pay as you earn) will gain, NIS (National Insurance Scheme) will gain, youths are going to be employed. Now this US$25M investment is stalled because it is unclear who has the power to approve what.
I am calling on the relevant authorities to look into this matter as soon as possible because we were supposed to hand over the building at August month-end and we are running against time now.” Khan lamented.
The businessman said that $30M has already been spent on the seventh floor which is 50% completed. In excess of $25M of building material – steel, wood, decking and other items – are being damaged in the rain.