The sod turning ceremony for the long-awaited and controversial Marriott Guyana Georgetown hotel was held yesterday in Kingston and it was disclosed that a Chinese company will be constructing the US$51M edifice.
The revelation that China’s Shanghai Construction Group will be undertaking the building of the project came two days after the disclosure of the secret signing of a deal in Jamaica for another Chinese company to undertake the construction of a new terminal at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri and the expansion of its runway.
It is yet unclear how the US$51M financing of the venture will be achieved. The Government Information Agency quoted the Head of the Privatisation Unit, Winston Brassington as saying that funding will be in the form of debt and equity and that the government will provide a “minority” share of the funding. The government has struggled to find financing for this project which has been on the agenda for many years. The revelation earlier this year that some of the money would be provided by the state has been heavily criticized as members of the public have argued that the investor should be bearing the full cost of construction.
During the ceremony yesterday, President Bharrat Jagdeo indicated that there have been two other indications of interest in similar ventures.
According to Jagdeo, there may be several other hotel constructions before the completion of the Marriott Hotel.
He said “We’re one of the fastest growing country in the region. This country has had continuous growth throughout the recession and we’ve had great demand for travel to Guyana”. He added that it is thought by other countries that Guyana will soon be a “major player” in oil and gas.
Jagdeo said that with all of this, there will be a great demand for accommodation and the need for entertainment. This, he said, is mirrored in every sector in Guyana. “We anticipate an explosion of business travellers and their looking for good quality accommodation,” he said.
He added that dedicated efforts will be seen by the government in the future to create a group of people who are well trained to serve in what is believed to be a growing industry.
Also addressing yesterday’s forum was Area Vice President of Marriott, Andrew Houghton, who indicated that this project will represent the company in its 72nd country. With this, he said, opportunities have always been developed for people to grow and develop. When completed, this will be a Marriott-managed hotel.
Houghton stated that it is the hope of the company to attract conventioneers and persons from the business industry who can assist in Guyana’s continuous progress. “We represent 3,600 hotels in the world and employ 129,000 associates,” he noted.
“I look forward to supporting the business community here and growing our partnership together and developing a future for the 250 new people in the hospitality business,” Houghton said.
Giving a brief background on the project Brassington said that the estimated cost of this project is in excess of $US51M.
He stated that the Govern-ment of Guyana will provide a minority share of the funding while the majority of private debt financing will come from Republic Bank who will provide US$27M in senior debt.
This project, Brassington said, covers the delivery of a 197-room Marriott hotel, a large ballroom, a conference centre, along with other amenities. It also includes an entertainment complex of a casino, nightclub and a restaurant.
He recalled that this hotel project was under consideration since 2004 and in 2009, when the Zublin group out of Grenada, a private developer withdrew after citing the global financial crisis.
The government, he said, thereafter continued to pursue this project following a public/private partnership. Resulting from invitations in the media, a proposal was made which included designing the hotel. This proposal was accepted in May 2009.
To execute this public-private partnership, Atlantic Hotel Inc., a special purpose company was formed and in December 2009, the letter was executed between Atlantic Hotel Inc. and Marriott.
On November 16, 2010, following approval by Marriott of the revised conceptual design, the design bill contract was executed to Shanghai Construction Group and Atlantic Hotel Inc. for the value of $US50.9M.
Those details were not made available until yesterday.
Chief Executive Officer of S.C.G., Michael Zhang, indicated that his company has been ranked among the top 50 contractors of the world since 1998.
He committed to share the opportunity bestowed upon them with local contractors and suppliers. “It is our honour to contribute to the development of this beautiful country,” he said.
The hotel is being constructed at the back of the National Centre for Education Resource Development.
Up to August of this year the government had been tight-lipped on this project. When contacted for an update then, Brassington said that he had no comment. However, according to a document seen by this newspaper, Brassington, in his capacity of Chairman of AHI, in February submitted drawings for “the construction of a proposed Georgetown Marriott Hotel at Block Alpha, Kinston Georgetown.“ The plan was sent to City Engineer Gregory Erskine for approval. The plan was designed by Adam Developers/Urbahn Archi-tects Ltd of New York USA. The dimension of the land is 6.88 acres (299,692.8 square feet). The designers had been associated with the first failed attempt to get the project going.
During a press conference on July 8, President Jagdeo had said that the Guyana government was about to enter into a public/private partnership with the Zublin Group in Grenada. He said that the government was on the verge of signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Zublin Group and that he hoped construction would begin within two to three months.
“I think the government will have… one third equity and the investor will have two thirds equity,” Jagdeo said. He did not reveal how much the project would cost or how much money government would be putting in, saying that since it was a mainly private sector-owned project it was better that this information be revealed at the time of the official announcement. This announcement was still not made yesterday.
