– calls on services sector to meet high customer demandsTHE Diamond community on the East Bank of Demerara is gradually being boosted with the requisite facilities and services that complement the urban expansion plan government has been implementing there.
The Diamond Food Court, an investment by the Guyana Oil (GuyOil) Company, located next to the Guyoil Diamond Service Station was commissioned yesterday with the cutting of a ribbon by President Bharrat Jagdeo.Managers of Royal Castle, JR Burger and Pizza Boy, the three concessionaires operating in the food court, assisted the Head of State in officiating before taking a tour of the new fast food outlet.The Diamond Food Court, which comes with a forecourt and the capacity to accommodate 200 customers, will soon be joined by a fourth concessionaire.President Jagdeo described the investment as an indication of commitment to leadership and entrepreneurship, confident that the establishment of a fast food outlet in the suburbs would be as lucrative as those in the city.“I hope that this will not be the only facility where a state enterprise will work in partnership with the private sector, to bring growing and greater services to people who live in areas that traditionally have not been served by high services,” President Jagdeo said.The Head of State is proud of the rapid growth in the services sector in Guyana, and its ability to overshadow many of the other sectors as an employer, and a large contributor to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).With growth in the economy and the concomitant growth in disposable income, President Jagdeo said the demands and expectations of people for quality services will also increase; and he called on the business community to meet those expectations.“If they (customers) were content to go to a cake shop in the past and get some supplies of food, they don’t want that anymore; and this puts increasing pressure not just on the providers of those services, but people who think in the traditional way; because… if you don’t upgrade your businesses, if you do not keep up with the times and the changing demand in nicer environments…those businesses will fall by the wayside,” President Jagdeo said.The Head of State was confident that many other private entities will emulate the Diamond investment.Guyoil’s Director, Oscar Phillips, said that the company’s decision to diversify its business is mainly to attract more revenue.He said while the company is looking to synergies to attract revenue, the government, through Guyoil, has been cushioning the effects of fluctuating fuel prices on the Guyanese customers.The community in which the fast food outlet is located will be part of an urban network with a housing scheme extending from Diamond all the way to the city, and a four-lane road.
Diamond has an approximate population of 40,000 and growing, three commercial banks, a secondary school, the East Demerara Regional Hospital, a $56M well that serves over 8,000 residents of Diamond/Grove, and the Guy Oil Service Station.