– NICIL, Trinidadian investor to turn sod today

THE National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) and Trinuyana Investments Incorporated of Guyana will, today, turn the sod for a world-class, select service, internationally-branded Hotel – AC Marriott Hotel on the Ogle Airstrip Road.
NICIL signed the agreement with the firm headed by Trinidadian, John Aboud, recently, a release from NICIL said. The sod turning ceremony is expected to see Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan and CEO of NICIL, Colvin Heath-London, speaking at the event which is expected to provide an initial 400 plus jobs during construction and some 200 permanent jobs upon completion.

NICIL’s Privatisation Specialist, Racheal Henry, is quoted in the release as saying that the hotel that will be constructed is the AC Marriott, which is expected to have some 150 rooms and will be constructed over four floors. She disclosed that her agency and the CEO of Triniyuana Investment Inc. (Guyana and Trinidad), John Aboud, held lengthy discussions before arriving at the decision to construct the hotel. Henry said that the eagerly-anticipated hotel will have several amenities. Among the facilities are conference rooms, offices and some state-of-the-art living facilities, which he said would be integrated into the hotel complex. “This is the culmination of negotiations that NICIL had with this company and the result is a major brand-name hotel coming to Guyana so that all can benefit from it as it certainly will boost our tourism and ultimately our country’s revenues,” Henry is quoted as saying.

For his part, Aboud said that he is excited over the fact that the project will finally be rolled out, stressing that the work of NICIL was significant in ensuring that the hotel project becomes a reality. He disclosed that he was very impressed with the manner in how NICIL and their team conducted the discussion, stressing that NICIL sought to secure the best possible deal for Guyana. “The discussions were very lengthy and at times challenging but ultimately we understood as they wanted the best deal for Guyana and that is fine as every agency and or business wants what’s best for them,” he said.

He disclosed that he was eyeing Guyana for a number of years but about three years ago, he felt confident enough to move ahead with the project. He pointed out that while they don’t have major personnel on the ground as yet, he foresees this being a reality in early March, noting that they anticipate construction commencing in a few months.

Aboud, who heads a major investment company in Trinidad and Tobago, pointed out that he fell in love with the numerous opportunities that exists here. He stated that Guyana is poised to benefit significantly from what he dubbed as its rapidly-growing tourism market.
“After visiting here a few times and seeing the numerous opportunities that exists, I decided to invest in buying sone land as I see that there is a need for such investment to further propel Guyana’s tourism,” Aboud said.

He said that the first-class hotel will cater for both business and tourism-related visitors. He revealed that the first cost would be to the tune of US$75M, stressing that another significant amount of monies is expected to be pumped into the hotel as they seek to take it to the acceptable international standard. Aboud further revealed that the hotel, which will contain 150 rooms, is a five-star hotel, noting that the new brand is one that is fresh, and is the latest being managed by Marriott. He noted that the 150-room hotel will serve further in boosting the tourism agency development, especially around the Marriott hotel.

He added that the hotel site is a strategic location for the future, stressing that the hotel’s presence will further enhance and greatly boost the economic activity taking place at Ogle. He said that with regard to negotiations, there were several challenges but is very thankful as like them, NICIL wanted to secure the best possible deal for the Guyanese people.

“I had a lot of significant confidence in the investment opportunities that currently exists in Guyana and is determined to maximise those investment opportunities, thus we are seeing the reality of this hotel right now,” Aboud said.

Aboud went on to express excitement about the deal being wrapped up, stating that the relevant agencies responsible for a number of decisions are expected to make several decisions shortly, thus further helping to boost the planned construction of the hotel, which he said will help to enhance and market Guyana’s tourism product immensely.

Meanwhile, Heath-London congratulated John Aboud and team, noting that the people can expect NICIL pursuing a number of opportunities that will yield significant revenues and benefits for the country. He stressed that his team had engaged Triniyuana and is satisfied that their investment is ideal and most importantly timely. “We are very pleased with the investment that Mr. Aboud and team would be bringing to Guyana and are very confident that the government and people of Guyana will certainly benefit from this major hotel investment,” Heath-London stressed. The construction of the hotel is expected to take some 30 months.