Clinton Urling

A private sector survey of local businesses has revealed that respondents believe the US$51M Marriott Hotel should be at the bottom of the list of national priorities, despite the government hailing it as one of its flagship projects.

The findings of the second Attitudinal Survey conducted by the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) were garnered from 65 respondents who are members of the umbrella body.

GCCI President Clinton Urling presented the information on Tuesday noting that

(1) the Amaila Hydropower Project topped the list of priorities the respondents thought the government should be pursuing.

(2) This was followed by the Linden to Lethem Road;

(3) construction and development of other interior roads;

(4) establishment of a recycling plant; and

 (5) maritime ports upgrade.

After those priorities came the Cheddi Jagan International Airport upgrade and a new Demerara Harbour Bridge, two projects the government is also pursuing though an allocation for the former was cut from the 2013 budget by the National Assembly. A new river crossing is in the pre-feasibility stage.

The respondents even placed a Guyana-Suriname bridge link ahead of the Marriott project in terms of national priority.

Work on the hotel project is already far gone with a completion date set for mid next year.

The survey also looked at corruption perception with 74 percent saying that it was “high” or “somewhat high” while 22 percent offered a “neutral” view on the issue.

“A vast majority, 88 percent, felt that government was not doing enough to curb corruption, while only five percent felt much was being done,” the report stated.

However, 45 percent of the respondents indicated that government attitude towards business was either “very supportive” while 51 percent deemed it “moderately supportive.”

Performance-wise 87 percent responded that business activities were either strong or very strong in 2012 with 91 percent of them reporting a profit for the year.

“Nearly three out of every four respondents expect to see increased revenues in 2013 while 22 percent expect revenues to remain stable.”

 The report further stated that nearly eight of every 10 respondents were optimistic about the economy or expected things to remain the same this year with none offering a negative outlook.

The businesses highlighted

(1) finding and retaining good employees as their major obstacle to success followed by

(2)  high taxes,

(3) high electricity rates and

(4) crime and

(5) security concerns.

Inefficiencies in the legal system and at the Customs were also noted.

The findings from the survey are to be used to gauge the needs and concerns of GCCI members and to inform decisions for interactions with government and other policy makers.