DESPITE repeated claims of an interest in acquiring the 67 per cent equity in the Georgetown Marriott Hotel, Robert Badal, owner of the nearby Pegasus Hotel, never submitted a single proposal and as such his recent ramblings should not be taken seriously.

Robert Badal

This was the cautionary warning issued by Atlantic Hotel Inc. (AHI), which earlier this week responded to Badal who is reported in sections of the media as being ready to invest US$8M in the Marriott Hotel development in order to become a majority shareholder.

A worker skillfully marks this tile before cutting it to be laid

“AHI wishes to make it clear that it has not, at any time prior to or since Mr. Badal’s alleged statement, received any expression of interest from Mr. Badal or any of his representatives in investing in AHI’s Marriott Hotel Project private equity,” the statement said.

In fact, AHI, in its public missive, recalled that advertisements inviting investor(s) expressions of interest to participate in the Marriott Hotel Project’s private equity were widely published since 2009, both locally and internationally, and were placed in all of Guyana’s Embassies and Consulates abroad.

Despite the widespread publication, not a single local investor, including Badal, expressed an interest in investing in the Marriott Project, according to AHI.

In fact, AHI noted that on the contrary, Badal has vehemently opposed the project.

According to the AHI missive, it is worth pointing out that both the Stabroek News and Kaieteur News, in October 2013, reported extensively on a statement issued by Badal attacking the Feasibility Study as ‘unrealistic assumptions’.

“In his statement, Mr. Badal predicted crippling operating losses for the hotel, with no cash flow being available to cover interest rate payments as this outfit would not even realise 15 per cent occupancy.” AHI recalled too that Badal had also asserted that the hotel “would rapidly lead to bankruptcy.”

He suggested too that “it is no surprise that no credible investor showed any interest in this project,” but according to AHI, “in 2013, AHI announced it had secured an investor, however, it was not until May last year (2014) that AHI and Republic Bank were able to release the name of the investor.”

The Pegasus Hotel owner was reported in the media recently as saying, “now that details of the many incentives and tax breaks granted for the project are coming to light, he is more than willing to invest the US$8M that offers 67 per cent ownership of the hotel.”

The publication also quoted Badal saying, “once there is a guarantee that all these incentives, including the exemptions on the Withholding Tax, Property Tax and Corporation Tax, will come as the conditions under the current arrangements, I will be more than willing to come on board as the equity investor for US$8M.”

AHI has again reminded that the terms and conditions for the investment and the incentives offered, including those which Badal is now reported to be finding so attractive, were a matter of public records since 2012 and have not changed from the inception of the project up to the time of the closing date of the publicly advertised Expressions of Interest for private investors for the US$8M on 12th March, 2012.

“In fact all of the tax agreements were made public and widely covered in the media,” the AHI missive declared.

In March, 2012, Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh, laid the agreements before Parliament, copies of which are in the Parliamentary Library.

AHI has since advised that Badal cannot, therefore, credibly claim ignorance of these conditions and incentives when, in October 2013, he described the Marriott investment as “an indecent assault on the private sector and fraud on the taxpayer.”

AHI surmises too that “clearly, Mr. Badal’s reported sudden about face and declaration of interest in becoming a major investor is not to be taken seriously.”

The Georgetown Marriott Hotel Project entails the construction of 197-rooms that will meet the Marriott International Standard for a five star hotel. The hotel will be managed and operated by the Marriott Worldwide chain of affiliates. A second component of the project entails the construction of a-29,000 square feet entertainment complex that will house a casino, restaurant and nightclub all of which will be privately operated, separate and distinct from the hotel and its operator.

All Marriott Agreements have been executed and the Marriott team continues to intermittently visit Guyana during the building’s construction.

The General Manager has also been appointed and is resident in Guyana. -- (Gary Eleazar)