Only few Guyanese will get work there. We family only do business with Pegasus because they employ guyanese like we

If I was in Guyana, I would definitely take a job at the Marriott. I would even encourage other to be gainfully employed rather than day dreaming. A job put food on the table and gave you the independence to spring to a higher position. Every successful Guyanese worked their way up to the ladder from sweeping the floor that business people walked on.

Chinese Labour at Marriott Construction… Sun and Sand’s use of BK Intl. exposes Brassington’s contempt for Guyanese – Harmon

August 5, 2014 | By KNews | Filed Under News 

By Latoya Giles

Parliamentarian Joseph Harmon

The Government’s contention that local lack of skills is one of the reasons why they picked a Chinese firm to build the Marriott Hotel is completely laughable, according to Parliamentarian, Joseph Harmon.

Harmon in an interview with this newspaper yesterday, pointed out that while the Government couldn’t find a local contractor, an Indian investor has hired BK International to construct a US$54M hotel with the same room capacity. BK International was retained as the local contractor for the multi-million dollar Sun and Sand hotel at Turkeyen.

BK has not yet started construction, which was slated to begin the week after the sod turning ceremony last month.

Government had also defended its decision to refuse Guyanese employment in the construction of the hotel by saying that having a local labour force would contribute to a language barrier between the Chinese contractors and the workers.

According to Harmon, government’s reasons are always laughable because they have always held the position that Guyana does have the skill and ability to build things. “The first time I spoke about the Marriott construction I spoke about the hundreds of Guyanese workers throughout the region,” Harmon said.

He explained that the decision by the Sun and Sand entity was nothing new to Guyana. In fact, there are persons in Georgetown who are building major hotels and don’t require Chinese labour exclusively, Harmon told Kaieteur News.

Harmon said that this blatant act shows the contempt which the government holds for its people.

“It’s like they could tell people anything and feel they could get away with it and ultimately they will have to pay for this level of contempt,” Harmon told Kaieteur News.

You cannot take the country’s money and come with “wishy washy” excuses because Guyanese are becoming less tolerant of these excuses, he stressed.

Harmon said he believes that there is still a level of opaqueness about the Marriot project. He explained that taxpayers’ money which has been spent on the project has never been accounted for.

According to him, “this is where you can see that the contract for the construction was flawed; since they did not have a requirement for Guyanese labour to be involved at any level.”

Executive Director of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), Winston Brassington, in an exclusive interview with the State’s news agency, had said that the use of Chinese labour force to construct the multi-million-dollar Marriott Hotel was just one of several conditionalities necessary for the facility’s efficient and speedy construction.

However, even though Brassington had stated this, the construction is still behind time. The completion deadline was expected to be July month end, but was not met. President Donald Ramotar at a recent press conference, could not say whether there are any cost overruns for the project, and if so, the amount.

Brassington, as Head of NICIL/Privatisation Unit, which manages Government assets, had explained that Shanghai Construction Group (SCG) won the bid from 23 other firms to carry out the construction of the Marriott.

In defending SCG’s decision to hire Chinese nationals, Brassington said that the company indicated that “(it) had examined the level of skills available (locally) for the project as well as the levels of productivity.”

They were not impressed with the skills available locally to efficiently complete the project on time.

Cobra, is wuh going on hey?

Dear Editor,

The recent public meetings the AFC have been having in many parts of the country are highlighting a trend of rising anger among the poor and the working class against the ruling PPP.  This trend is quite noticeable in the sugar belt.  It is our humble political calculation that if such anger had existed during the 2011 elections campaign, the PPP would not have been in government. Therefore, all this loose talk of  “snap elections” can be a blessing in disguise for any political force that is on the path of exposing the wanton corruption and executive lawlessness that continues unabated under the minority PPP government today.

The latest of these AFC public meetings at Port Mourant, Berbice, was quite a revelation.  The members of the working class who attended (mainly cane-cutters, ordinary workers and their families) have informed us of the continued suffering today as a result of the oppressive system especially on the sugar estates where a few have most of the benefits and the majority have to settle for the crumbs. To add insult to injury, they continue to face flooding on their own with little if any support from the government.  These floods severely affect their main financial support during the crop-over season in the form of their gardens and poultry stocks.  The people are so consumed with survival that the PPP’s propaganda is the last thing on their minds.

Since the start of 2012, the PPP has not put any additional loaf of bread onto the people’s table and they are fully up to speed on who is resisting the 10% wage increase for workers.

No amount of propaganda can destroy that fact. We believe that President Ramotar is being ill-advised and plead with him to seek alternative advice on the wages increase for workers.  It is imperative for his political survival.

The people continue to tell our leaders how much they appreciate the fight by the AFC to release the $50 billion from NICIL and to cut the fat for the ‘big fish‘ out of the Budget to secure enough funding to pay a 10% increase now. Not next year or the year after, but now.

The recent pronouncement by Mr Brassington that NICIL has only $700 million has sent shock waves through the nation. Where are all the privatization proceeds and the dividends from state companies deposited?

In desperation, NICIL claims that Moses Nagamootoo and Christopher Ram benefited from portions of the $50 billion, but all and sundry know that this is a red herring to distract from the real issue.

What the NICIL Board has failed to tell the nation is who else benefited from NICIL and by what amounts. We challenge NICIL to publish all the facts on who got what.  Why single out Messrs Ram and Nagamootoo?

In addition to that question, there are others: 1.  Did NICIL foot the bill of $280 million to re-route the sewer under the proposed site of the Marriot Hotel, a private investment?

2.  Did NICIL foot the bill of $400 million in design fees for the Marriot Hotel, a private investment?

3.   Is NICIL going to foot the bill of $3,800 million in subordinate loans and equity in the Marriot Hotel project, a private investment?

4.   Is NICIL guaranteeing a $5,400 million loan to fund the construction of the Marriot Hotel, a private investment?

We have only released a small subset of the information at the disposal of the AFC on NICIL, and taxpayers can immediately get an insight that the figure of $50 billion is a real number that NICIL is trying its best to avoid.

NICIL is a government company with an estimated $50 billion in public assets and taxpayers have a right to know what has become of their money.

The mistrust has reached such a level that unless audited accounts with a full listing of all the revenue streams between 2004 and 2011 are released, nothing coming from NICIL can be treated as credible information. The people want to know where this $50 billion is invested and if these investments have been sanctioned by the representatives of the people in the Parliament, the real owners of the funds?

We are urging the NICIL Board to tell the people the truth about taxpayers’ money held in their accounts and work with the majority in Parliament to invest these funds in national assets like a transportation link between Linden and Lethem rather than in a multitude of private investments which would only benefit a few. Anything else is a recipe for continuous confrontation between the people and the PPP.

Yours faithfully, Asquith Rose Sasenarine Singh

http://www.stabroeknews.com/20...-the-money-it-holds/

Mr Singh use he real name in that leter. Somebody on SN blog ask why Mr Rose dont use he real first name. 

Boy, like you in love with Mr. Singh.

I did emailed him (Sasenarine Singh) and asked him to come on GNI and fiya some lash pun them PPP jumbies and deal with all the wild talk and lies from Tarron through his jumbie JB on GNI and the azz tell me he on a "Sabbatical" from Guyana politics?

What the hell is a sabbatical from politics?

Well look at me crosses. 

Mitwah, you're purposely derailing my thread with old story. Its time for the hotel to shine and let Guyanese reap the job benefits. It's that simple!

NICIL seeks to hoodwink nation over Marriott ownership

The National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) has once again created some cloud regarding ownership of the Marriott Hotel under construction in Kingston, Georgetown.

The Marriott Hotel under construction in Kingston.

By way of a full page advertisement in the four daily newspapers yesterday, NICIL sought to suggest that a deliberate and irresponsible attempt has been made to give the public the impression that the Marriott Hotel investment and its control are being given away to the private investor.
According to NICIL nothing could be further from the truth.
The holding company went on to explain that the private investor will pay US$8M for 67 per cent equity in the company, Atlantic Hotel Incorporated (AHI).  According to NICIL the total value of the equity is US$12M.
It went on to state that equity is the value of the shares of the company or the net value of the assets available to the shareholders.
NICIL went on to explain that the private investor is only entitled to 67 per cent of the net assets of AHI. It said that net asset is the total assets minus total liabilities. The total assets amount to US$58.5M.
The total liabilities according to NICIL is US$46.5M which consists of loan financing arranged by Republic Bank to the tune of US$27M, outfitting loan for the Entertainment Complex at US$4M and NICIL’s loan, US$15.5 M.
NICIL claims that the private investor, British Virgin Islands registered, Square Ace Investment Inc will only be entitled to ownership of the US$8M that it has invested but what the company did not say is that if and when the loans have been repaid, the private investors remains in control of 67 per cent of the entire project.
When the total loan stock is paid off, the private investor will be in control of 67 per cent of the total assets which will be the US$58M hotel with no debt, making that hotel the net asset of the company.
NICIL in the full page advertisement said that it is investing US$4M in shares in the company, AHI for a one-third shareholding, as against the investor’s US$8M. NICIL is lending the company, AHI, US$15.5M in debt which will be repaid in full.
What NICIL did not say is that the US$15.5 loan to the project is to be repaid at a 0 per cent interest rate and would be repaid only if cash flow enables.
According to NICIL, “It should not be lost that exactly this offer was publicly advertised on 12 separate occasions with sufficient details for any potential investor to know what was being offered.”
What it did not say is that the evaluation of the proposals made were shrouded in secrecy and that it had still been looking for an investor long after the project would have began construction using only NICIL’s money.
The NICIL advertisement yesterday also did not provide any details as to what informed the decision to choose to partner with ACE Square Investments Limited, a British Virgin Islands (BVI) registered company whose owners have no experience in the hotel industry as had been previously demanded.
Hong Kong businessmen, Victor How Chung Chan, and Xu Han have been identified as the shareholders of the companies.
According to AHI, Victor Chan has diverse and substantial investment interests both in Hong Kong and China.
“He is an Executive Director of the REXLOT Group and is the single largest shareholder and Founder and Director of the REX Resources Group.”
The REXLOT Group is said to be the leading lottery system and distribution company in China and has extensive operations in China’s lottery market, through its local subsidiaries and international joint ventures.
The REX Resources Group is principally engaged in gold, coal, rare earth and other metal, mining exploration and development, both in China and internationally.
Chan is also said to be the leading investor and shareholder of China Gamma Group.
Xu Han is reported to be a long-standing business associate of Chan and holds graduate degrees from prominent US and Hong Kong universities.
Additionally, Han has over 30 years of global experience in both the public and private sectors, such as finance, gaming, and mining.
Observers are now questioning on what basis the BVI registered company, owned by the two Chinese businessmen was chosen to invest US$8M.

HOOD wink - ??

Is that what you and the PPP doing?

1.  Did NICIL foot the bill of $280 million to re-route the sewer under the proposed site of the Marriot Hotel, a private investment?

2.  Did NICIL foot the bill of $400 million in design fees for the Marriot Hotel, a private investment?

3.   Is NICIL going to foot the bill of $3,800 million in subordinate loans and equity in the Marriot Hotel project, a private investment?

4.   Is NICIL guaranteeing a $5,400 million loan to fund the construction of the Marriot Hotel, a private investment?

We have only released a small subset of the information at the disposal of the AFC on NICIL, and taxpayers can immediately get an insight that the figure of $50 billion is a real number that NICIL is trying its best to avoid.

NICIL is a government company with an estimated $50 billion in public assets and taxpayers have a right to know what has become of their money.