As the sod was turned yesterday for a US$100M investment on 20 acres of land at Ogle, NICIL announced that it was only part of a grand “City of Ogle” project spanning some 800 acres going all the way to Lusignan.
The East Coast area, according to the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), will have an AC Marriott Hotel, two other internationally-branded hotels, a specialty hospital in the form of a cardiology services centre and a housing development similar to the East Bank of Demerara Windsor Estates.
“The city of Ogle, we have actually tagged an area from Ogle to Lusignan for developmental drives. So it is over 800 acres…,” NICIL’s lead specialist Rachel Henry said yesterday.
Heading the investment team for the cardiology services centre will be local cardiologist and Head of the Caribbean Heart Institute, Dr Mahendra Carpen. When contacted by Stabroek News, Carpen said that he will speak about the project when “all the ends have been tied up” with his partners.
For his part, Minister of Finance Winston Jordan lauded the step taken by the investors, even as championed his government’s investments plans and compared them to the opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic.
Making reference to the Kingston Marriott Hotel, which was constructed under the PPP/C, Jordan said that the Ogle and other investments will see investors using their own monies and not state funds which place a burden on taxpayers.
“Governments should ensure, yes, that we create the conditions for them to make that profit but also that we have the regulations in place to, for example, protect our environment, protect our labour and our workers, grow our economy, pay the relevant taxes and so forth. That is what we are supposed to be doing, not taking taxpayers’ money and building hotels. Not borrowing money at whatever commercial rates and building hotels. That is the business of private investors. And if they see an opportunity and they do their internal analyses and it turns out that profits are bigger than the internal rate, they will invest, but when you go to the lengths to which we had gone to build the Marriott, that is something else” he said.
“They [the CMEI group] truly have a commitment to this country. Everything you see here is the culmination of a group of Guyanese investors going out… It has been done right here… when you speak of local content, it is the epitome of local content …that is the model that will be followed by this government,” he said.
NICIL’s Privatisation Specialist dismissed assertions that news of mega projects just 10 days before General and Regional elections were politically motivated, saying her agency was planning for the long term and for the benefit of Guyana’s people.
“We would hope that after the elections that Guyana is here because NICIL is ready to do business. We are very excited about development and what it can do for the people of Guyana. We continue to chart development and move forward with very innovative projects,” she said.
Henry said that evidence of NICIL’s interest in Guyana’s citizenry is seen through yesterday’s investment, which has US-based businessman Edmon Braithwaite as the lead of the seven- member investment team.
“I believe that somewhere rooted in this nation’s umbilical cord today is the realisation of great things and one of those great things is that CMEI is led by a son of the soil, Guyanese national Mr. Edmon Braithwaite,” she said.
“The CMEI team are persons with great passion for this project and for its success. This project offers jobs for the population, it offers advancement and a commitment to train and develop our hospitality sector. CEO Edmon Braithwaite is very cognisant of giving back to a nation that gave to him in the past. So it was not difficult as NICIL engaged this group. We were able to agree to an exuberant programme of social activity that will accompany their market entrance,” she added.
According to Henry, the corporate social responsibility programmes of the company will be in the form of grants to educational institutions, scholarships, fellowships and mentorship programmes.
“Today we turn the sod on construction of a hotel but we also turn the sod on development. We turn the sod on opportunity and advancement for the country of Guyana,” she said.
And while Henry spoke of the US$100M invested and that the 20 acres was sold at market value of over $26M per acre, she remained tight lipped on the investment details and did not say which hotel brand would be on the site.
She explained that the investors were working out the details with the hotel brand and when that process was competed the specifics will be made public. NICIL was however satisfied with the due diligence carried out on the investors, Henry said, and she and the NICIL team believe that the project will be realised within the next three years.
And like Henry, Braithwaite did not want to disclose if he had received permission and agreement from the Hilton Hotel brand for the structures and said that when the investment agreements were formally completed and documents signed, he would disclose details.
And while he did not elaborate, Braithwaite said that Guyanese will be able to invest in the planned project.
The Hilton at Ogle’s main investor and CMEI partner, Mike Elliott yesterday assured that his experience should speak for itself. He said that his company has seven international offices and similar investments are not new to him.
“We are focused on emerging markets throughout North and South America with an emphasis on energy markets and are currently working on several projects in the Caribbean Basin Region and several more in the US,” he said.
“In the near future, you will be seeing plans mature for this site. It is our vision that this site will be a focal point for the Ogle area and to master plan a well-designed mixed-use commercial project. Currently we anticipate two internationally-flagged hotels with associated amenities. We are also seeking office and real estate users and will develop several build-to-suit properties to ensure a well-balanced project. It is our hope that this development activity will not only help the growth of the tourism market of the country but fill the demand of the business and population growth currently taking place,” he added.
The Ogle project, according to Elliott, will create jobs for locals, even as it develops an international investment platform that this country will benefit from.
“CMEI will construct the hotels in the 120-130 room range with world class amenities inclusive of a miniature golf course, clubhouse, entertainment centre, swimming pool, solar farm and green space allocation,” NICIL has said. It had noted that the division of the land would be 7.5 acres for a solar farm, 5 acres for a Club House/Entertainment Centre/Mini Golf Course, and one hotel and its supporting commercial establishments will cover 4 acres and the other hotel will cover 3.5 acres.
