Acting Minister of Tourism Irfaan Ali yesterday called claims by Pegasus Hotel owner Robert Badal’s that his business was being discriminated against by the Tourism Ministry “baseless and wicked,” charging that they were driven by “political and selfish desires.”
Badal made the allegation in a statement issued on Wednesday, when he also called on President Donald Ramotar to remove Ali from the ministry. He said that despite being the largest investor and employer in the sector, and paying over $400M in taxes, Pegasus Hotel had been sidelined by the ministry.
The statement from Badal was prompted by the hotel’s exclusion from a delegation to this week’s Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) Caribbean Week in New York. He said that it had also been excluded from the Sustainable Tourism Conference, held here in April.
In a statement, Ali said the ministry’s position is to promote Guyana as a tourism destination and not any particular business or entity within the sector, while emphasising that he had never directed any business away from the Pegasus Hotel.
“These lies from Mr. Badal can only be described as mischievous and dangerous,” he said, noting that government cannot in any way dictate where people should stay, since this decision is based on service, quality, professionalism, ethics, standards and customer choice.
“The accusations that somehow the government facilitated the Princess [Hotel]’s participation in Caribbean Tourism Week event is a total distortion. Let me make it clear that this is a CTO event and registration to attend was open to any tourism-related company. Princess Hotel registered for this event, on its own, and paid their expenses to allow their participation,” he further noted. In relation to the Sustainable Tourism Conference, Ali added that all official functions were held at the International Conference Centre, a government-managed facility. He did not explain why the Pegasus was not a participant.
Ali added that since taking the oath of office, he has been aware of his responsibilities and has worked “feverishly” in collaboration with the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG), the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) and the private sector in planning and development of the sector.
He also called on the Private Sector Commission to ensure that members of the private sector act in a responsible way and do no distort the truth and misrepresent facts.
According to Badal, Past President Bharat Jagdeo openly promoted the business of the Princess Hotel, with the casino gambling legislation passed under his administration in order to make the Princess’s precursor—Buddy’s Hotel—attractive to the eventual buyer. He said that directives were also given to persons to stay there.
Further, Badal said that the Princess Hotel pays no corporate taxes under a tax holiday arrangement and it seemed to him as if Jagdeo’s favouritism was being sustained, despite his hopes that with the election of President Ramotar, there would have been “a level playing field” for all.
