The Guyana Manufactur-ing and Services Associa-tion (GMSA) has stated that it switched the venue for a planned luncheon today with President Donald Ramotar from the Pegasus Hotel to the Marriott Hotel to meet the needs of its members and optimise financial returns.
In a statement, dated April 19, the GMSA said its decision to utilise the Marriott Hotel was made on the premises of estimated ticket sales, the value discounts/rebates received, the value of sponsorship from the business community, the size of the Marriott’s conference room and its availability for the duration of the luncheon.
The statement was issued in response to questions raised by Pegasus hotelier Robert Badal about the real reasons for the switch. He believes that the decision was politically-motivated.
In his rebuttal to the April 19th statement, Badal said “Response by the GMSA to my claim of political influences on decisions of the executives of private sector bodies show how distant its executives are from the truth”. .
The GMSA’s rejoinder asserted its political impartiality. “The GMSA is a proactive Business Support Organisation and one of our key objectives is to maintain political neutrality. It was this association that introduced in 2011 the concept of Political discourses between presidential candidates and the business community,” it said, while noting that in that year it had hosted successful business luncheons with the major presidential candidates. “We are repeating the series of political (parleys) this year for the same purpose, i.e. to provide a platform for the business community to engage the candidates of the main political parties on their blueprint for business development,” it further said, while noting that APNU+AFC coalition leader David Granger took the opportunity it offered to engage with the business community on March 17th.
According to the GMSA, for many years the Pegasus has been the recipient of its patronage for a variety of events and it is not the first time that an event was being held at a different location.
“There were occasions when the Pegasus was unavailable on our chosen dates, or the seating accommodation was insufficient for the size of the audience or participants. We have made use of a number of alternative venues in and outside of the city (incl. Regency Suites and the Princess Hotel). It would be useful to point out that two of our last three major events were held at the Princess Hotel due to the unavailability of the Savannah Suite at the Pegasus,” it stated.
Badal maintains in his reply that his hotel was giving the lowest cost to host the event and that from records it is shown that neither discount nor venue capacity was a factor.
He also charged that the GMSA would now have to pay the Marriott twice his price for its services.
The GM&SA, however, said it hopes that Badal’s position would not tarnish “the good relationship” it has enjoyed with the Pegasus over the years.
