THE ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP) made it clear on Monday that the Marriott Hotel will not be a “white elephant”.

PPP General-Secretary Mr. Clement Rohee blasted the combined Opposition on the fact that they were not given the privilege to know what is best for Guyana and its people.

At the weekly news conference at Freedom House on Robb Street, Rohee was asked why Government’s investment policies seemed to favour foreigners and more or less undermine Guyanese sovereignty.

He responded by vehemently clarifying the People’s Progressive Party’s position on the issue of investment in Guyana, pointing out that “every PPP administration, from (late) President Cheddi Jagan right down to President Donald Ramotar, has stated publicly that Guyana is open to public/private investments, foreign direct investments (FDI), and local investments.

“Whoever has the resources to invest, even if it is a sweets factory, let them invest! Provided that the necessary rules are followed, there is no problem; Guyana is open to investments,” Rohee declared.

He maintained that the PPP administration has never discriminated between any form of investment in Guyana, and it will not do so in the future.
“Discrimination between foreign direct investments and local investment is not in our lexicon,” Rohee declared as he claimed that the combined APNU/AFC Opposition does not have the privilege to say what is best for the country, although there is nothing wrong with them having a view.

“They may have a view, and nothing is wrong with them having a view; but it doesn’t mean to say that their view is the only view that is sanctified by the Almighty, and therefore must be followed by the Government,” he said.

WHITE ELEPHANT?

The principal investors in the Atlantic Hotel Incorporated (AHI) (Marriott Hotel Guyana project and Entertainment Complex) are the National Industrial and Commercial Investment Limited (NICIL) and the British Virgin Islands-registered ACE Square Investments Ltd.

Rohee was asked about viability of Government’s investment thorough NICIL into the Marriott Hotel, and he responded that “every Government has the legitimate right to look at the investment portfolios, profiles, and offers that have been made. No one has a monopoly on the truth — where investments should flow and where (they) should not flow”.

He said the Opposition strategy is to make Guyana look unattractive to investors, and paint the security situation in the country so bad that nobody wants to come here.

Rohee added that the Opposition parties seek to paint the Government as corrupt: “Before you can make your investment here, you have to bribe that person” – which portrays Guyana as an unhealthy country for investments, among other things.

He said that, unlike the Opposition parties, the PPP is of the view that Guyanese are happy about the current investments being made in the hotel industry; and the PPP firmly believes the Marriott Hotel will be a success.

Concerns were expressed on the number of hotels already founded in Guyana, to which the PPP General-Secretary stated that, to date, no hotel has failed. He referred to the Princess Hotel in this regard.

“It has reinvented itself almost every time. Businessmen and investors constantly reinvest and reinvent themselves in order to make sure that their dollars work. So I don’t think that the Marriott Hotel will be a white elephant,” he said.

(By Sandy Agasen)