The Marriott Hotel project is all about the self-enrichment of a few

Dear Editor,
During the televised debates on institutional corruption in Guyana, Minister Ashni Singh stated repeatedly that the Marriott Hotel project is a “public/private partnership” and has justified the State’s investment as fostering a transformational project.
It is clear that Parliament did not authorize the use of taxpayers’ money to fund this project and it is also clear the taxpayers of Guyana have not been fully apprised of this mega-project – labelled the largest Ponzi scheme in Guyana by AFC leader Khemraj Ramjattan.
Yet the Jagdeo/Ramotar regime was arrogant and conceited enough to tell the taxpayers that they plan to use some $4.3 billion of their money without their permission to build the Marriott Hotel, and that is if everything goes according to plan.
The worst case scenario in the Marriott Hotel deal is the taxpayers could end up funding some 86% of this project if the plan fails and the chance of that happening remains very high, given the track record of the regime.
We know from experience that the PPP has squandered billions of dollars of taxpayers’ money in their poor execution of several other mega-projects including the Skeldon Sugar Factory, the Enmore Sugar Packaging Plant, the Amalia Falls Road Project, and the Roll-on-Roll-off Supenaam Stelling. It appears as though either the PPP is mulish or they have not learnt a single lesson from their financial failures, because it appears once more that those in authority are about to squander billions of dollars more of the taxpayers’ money on the Marriott Hotel when they indicated that the casino, night club and restaurant would not be part of the hotel management. Is the PPP regime outsourcing the main revenue earners of the hotel to their cronies? Shame on the PPP cabal!! Earlier, it was NICIL, now it is the Marriott Hotel. When is this crookedness going to stop?
AFC leader Mr. Khemraj Ramjattan has criticized his former PPP colleagues for their blatant misuse of billions of dollars of the taxpayers’ money and their shameful exploitation of the poor and the working class who are worse off today than when Mr. Ramotar took office ten months ago.
Others including Kaieteur News publisher Mr. Glenn Lall and APNU MP Joseph Harmon have stated that the Marriott Hotel is clearly designed to enrich the business buddies, families and cronies of the ruling PPP cabal. These wealthy PPP “untouchables” continue to rape and pauperize the taxpayers of billions of dollars every year, thus making the poor and the working class poorer.
We have come across information of a grand scheme to build the Marriott Hotel and when the project fails, a group of sympathetic investors all friends of the Jagdeo/Ramotar regime will purchase the hotel at a huge discount price, only to use it as a money laundering operation.
This is the reason why the PPP does not care what the people think; they have already sounded the alarm that the Marriott Hotel must be built with or without private money. So for the Finance Minister to make statements like “all the norms of accountability are being followed on the Marriott Hotel project” is quite brazen, false and troubling. He is misleading the public.
The PPP spin doctors even have the gall to go on public TV and make false statements about the project which are a stretch of the imagination and furthest from the truth.
Why aren’t the international private sector and the business elite in Guyana not lining up and rolling over each other to get to the front of the line on this investment? There are several families that have the financial capability to fund this project as well as consortia such as DDL and Banks DIH. These conglomerates have shown no interest in investing in this Ponzi scheme.
So let us examine the facts on the financing of the hotel. The Marriott Hotel project is estimated to cost just under G$12 billion. The PPP government, through NICIL and without the people’s permission, has invested some G$4.3 billion of the taxpayers’ money up front with zero commitment from any private partners so far.
The Jagdeo/Ramotar regime has a commitment in principle from Republic Bank to arrange for the additional G$5.6 billion that is expected to come from private financing to add to this G$4.3 billion of the taxpayer funds. But all Republic Bank will be doing is advising the PPP regime on the private financing for a fee to be paid by the taxpayers.
Republic Bank is also expected to lead the negotiations with the syndicate of prospective private financiers and could invest directly in the project, if it foresees that it is a profitable venture.
However, what Republic Bank would not do is underwrite the debt or offer any loan guarantee to the government. That financial responsibility/burden is being imposed on the taxpayers by the Jagdeo/Ramotar cabal without their knowledge or consent.
If this whole project fails to offer the rate of return that the syndicated agreement instructs, then the private investors have a right to call upon the National Treasury for the difference.
Further, if the project fails completely, then the G$5.6 billion will have to be funded in full by the National Treasury, hence the taxpayers. This means that in the worst case scenario, the taxpayers could be called upon to fund 86% of this project (some G$10 billion). Is this what Mr. Winston Brassington calls 1/3 financing from the taxpayers?  Is this what Minister Ashni Singh means when he says the overwhelming majority of the funds will be private funds? Where did they learn their arithmetic? And why is the PPP regime using the taxpayers’ money without Parliament’s approval to fund such a risky project that only their leaders know about?
If this project fails, the Government will have to liquidate its financial assets to a consortium of a third party at a huge discount. Is this another CLICO being conceived and created by the PPP regime?  And why should Guyanese believe in the political directorate and the few other private financiers of the PPP who will step forward to take control of this project at a huge discount from the taxpayers, thus leaving the people of Guyana with very steep losses?
We have concluded that there is irrefutable evidence for the Jagdeo/Ramotar regime not to execute this financial racketeering on the taxpayers. The fundamental question remains “is there a need for another hotel in Guyana at this time after the significant investment in the industry in the run-up to the World Cup cricket?  No! Is there a need for another mega hotel in Guyana when hotel occupancy rate in the country is at roughly 50% and tourism is at its lowest level? No! And why is the PPP so flippant in spending the taxpayers’ money on such a risky venture?
The combined opposition has to do more than just talk, and take whatever actions are necessary to stop the construction of the Marriott Hotel.  Now is the time for real action and for the majority opposition to show the people the mettle they are made of. We call on the leaders not to allow this corrupt PPP regime to get their hands on more of the taxpayers’ money. Enough is enough. Guyanese do not need another failed project of this financial magnitude.
In conclusion, we hope that this letter would encourage the people to confront the Jagdeo/Ramotar cabal on this and other shady projects. We also call on Mr. Ramotar to scrap this venture, because we are convinced that this project has been hatched by the regime to compete with the Pegasus Hotel, which its business buddies did not succeed in getting. The Marriott Hotel has nothing to do with improving and expanding the tourism sector; but all about the new greedy, spiteful and corrupt ideology of self-enrichment of a few, while ignoring the plight of the poor and the working class in Guyana.
Dr Asquith Rose and Harish S. Singh