Dear Editor,
I write to respond to the letter of Mr Clifton Bacchus in relation to his proposed casino in Church Street (‘Hotel and casino on Church Street are lawful’ SN, March 9). It would have been good if he or his advisor had properly read my letter as I was not objecting to casinos in Guyana but to the location.
This is my last response in this matter but I wish to make some points in relation to some aspects of Mr Bacchus’s letter. As regards his having a Memoran-dum of Understanding with the previous government, that was a matter which was unknown to me and, it seems, to the public.
I still maintain that whenever a casino licence is to be granted in a residential area or in Georgetown then the public must know of it and be given an opportunity to be heard. Whenever one applies for a liquor or hotel licence that application is published in the newspapers and a notice affixed on the premises. A casino licence has a greater impact and those who are vested with the power to grant approval must act diligently and be appreciative of any adverse or perceived impact on the community.
Mr Bacchus mentioned that there is a Gentleman’s Club near to the mosque and that there are Brazilian and Colombian female entertainers there, but that I did not object to this. For his information the owner is not my client nor is he my relative. I do not know who the owner is and it was only after Mr Bacchus’s letter that I found out what business may be carried on there.
Mr Bacchus also stated that I made persistent efforts to sell him a property near to St George’s Cathedral. I do not recall trying to sell him that property, as in that time he was not on my radar as a person who could have afforded to buy the property, but within the recent years he has come a far way. How he traversed that path is not for me to say.
Yours faithfully,
K A Juman-Yassin
