NOTWITHSTANDING the efforts of the Stabroek News, Kaieteur News and Glen Lall, the entire amount of money to be invested in the Marriott Hotel will be invested, Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon said Wednesday shortly after his post-Cabinet media briefing.

Responding to representatives of the privately owned Kaieteur News, Dr. Luncheon explained that while financial commitments towards the project have not yet achieved the 100% mark, there is a gap of $8M, “and that gap is what we insist that your newspaper and others have been making difficult (for us to bridge) by peddling this rumour about corruption and about unaccountability and unconstitutionality, making investors maybe scary and/or dubious about their involvement.”
“We have that $8M gap that your newspaper and others, have done their damnedest to ensure that it is being difficult to acquire,” he reiterated.
The HPS nevertheless, confidently observed that the financing of the construction has been met and the construction is currently under way.
In June 2010, Marriott International Inc. announced its intention to open its first Marriott branded hotel in Guyana in 2013. The 160-room Georgetown Marriott Hotel is on track to receive LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification from the US Green Building Council (USGBC). It will operate under a management agreement with Atlantic Hotel Inc (AHI) which is currently owned by the Government of Guyana as part of a public-private partnership.
This public-private partnership project is expected to transform the hospitality landscape and can be expected to encourage more travel and tourism development for Guyana.
The project will be more of an integrated entertainment complex, ideally located at the junction of the Atlantic Ocean and Demerara River, with a casino, night club, restaurant, and boardwalk.