THERE is a popular Guyanese folk song, “Dis time na lang time, this time na like before time” and I am sure that everyone knows that this is true.

However, to the amazement of the absolute majority of Guyanese, there are a few who would rather sin their souls in the public than accept this fact, because it will mean that they accept what is quite bitter for them to swallow. Chief among this few is Mr. Robert Badal, owner of the Pegasus Hotel, leader of the AFC, Mr. Khemraj Ramjattan and owner and publisher of the Kaieteur News, Mr. Glenn Lall. These three gentlemen have been in the forefront of a very nasty and relentless battle against the construction of a Marriott branded Five Star Hotel, with a modern entertainment complex and casino, just a stone’s throw away from the Pegasus.   What are the reasons? Mr. Badal is afraid of competition. He is afraid that with the completion of the Marriott Hotel, the Pegasus will lose its position as Guyana’s premier luxury hotel, a position it has actually already lost to the Princess Hotel at Providence. Fortunately for Mr. Badal, the Princess Hotel is far out of Georgetown, which still leaves him with the best hotel in town for the time until the Marriott has been completed.
Here is what Mr. Badal, Ramjattan and Glenn Lall must accept and what the public must also understand:
the Pegasus Hotel was conceptualised as a luxury hotel for Guyana some 40 years ago. All that was considered luxurious at that time was included to give it that status. That is about four decades ago. Much has changed since. What was considered luxury 40 years ago is no longer so. In fact, the luxuries of 40 years ago have been mostly reduced to  basic necessities in today’s’ world. For example, a mere  20 years ago flush toilets in Guyana were considered a luxuries, today they are  basic necessities and pit latrines are considered a health hazard to the extent that a few years ago, the government was assisting rural dwellers to install such facilities. Owning a car 20 years ago was definitely a luxury; today owning two cars can hardly be considered a luxury.
A few times in the 1980s I happened to be in one of the most luxurious houses in Guyana, the house of no other than Mr. Kayman Sankar, then one of the richest, if not the richest man in Guyana and his house then is nothing compared to that which an average middle-class Guyanese owns today. Even my house is not very far from what the house of one of Guyana’s richest man was just 20 years ago used to be. In the same way, the Pegasus Hotel has, through the passage of time, lost its flagship position as Guyana’s number one hotel.
It is quite possible that with the passage of time, even the Marriott may find itself in the position that the Pegasus has now found itself and it will have to adjust itself to the prevailing realities over which it has no control or perish.
Mr. Badal and Ramjattan should therefore stop their futile fight against the Marriott, be realistic and direct their energies and resources towards making the Pegasus the best that it could be in the prevailing circumstances. There is much to be gained by doing so.