The Mayor and City Council said yesterday that it was working towards seeing Edward B Beharry and Company Limited receive the necessary approvals to launch its Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) franchise.
At yesterday’s statutory meeting, the city engineer stated that the company’s application for the Vlissengen Road outlet was sent to the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) during the course of the day. He said the company had been informed about this.
Mayor Patricia Chase-Green said she was personally looking into the matter to ensure that the company is given approval in a timely manner. The city is also looking at the Hincks Street application, she said.
The city engineer told the statutory meeting that after approval is granted by the CH&PA, the next step would be approval from the Guyana Fire Service, before the application is returned to the City Council for the final approval.
Meanwhile, Chase-Green bemoaned the fact that applications have been going to the City Engineers Department and not processed in a timely manner. She called on the department to be more efficient and business friendly. She stressed that because of the process an application has to go through it should be dealt with immediately.
Stabroek News had reported that sources close to the company revealed that five months after its initial approach to the council in relation to one of its proposed locations at the NALICO building at Regent and Hincks streets it has been given the runaround.
A second application to the council in March this year for its site on Vlissengen Road was met with silence, sources said.
Stabroek News understands that both applications are being processed currently.
Sources said the Beharry company had applied at the end of December 2015 for a permit to remodel the Regent and Hincks streets site for a KFC outlet. After the council had requested a series of documents from the company, the final application was tendered on January 14, 2016. Verbal approval was then given for the start of work and to erect a barrier. However, on March 31, workers from the council stopped the work reportedly on the instruction of Town Clerk Royston King. The company was told that it could restart work but that the barriers could only be two feet away from the building. This the company said was not feasible and on April 4, city personnel again said that the work must come to an immediate halt.
In August 2013, KFC and Pizza Hut outlets were forced closed after regional representatives of Yum! Brands visited and found poor hygiene practices. At that time, the franchise was held by Friendship Hotel & Restaurant Holdings Limited headed by businessman Deo Singh. The franchise is now held by Edward B Beharry and Co.
