No official document has yet been finalized to lease a section of the Merriman Mall to Sleepin Hotel for the construction of a parking lot but in the meanwhile the area is being fully utilised by the establishment and the green space has been replaced by concrete.
When Stabroek News contacted the owner of the hotel, Clifton Bacchus he noted that the official lease and documents had still not been finalized. Repeated attempts by Stabroek News to contact the Mayor, Ubraj Narine and the Deputy Mayor, Alfred Mentore on this matter were futile.
In April of last year, Stabroek News had reported that the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) had planned to lease a part of the Merriman Mall to Bacchus and that official terms were to be finalized.
In addition, it was also reported that the section was intended to be leased for a sum of $1.3 M per year and Bacchus had said that he had paid for the first year.
However, even though the documents were not finalized, the hotel proprietor started construction on the section of the mall back in April of last year and there is now a fully functioning parking lot.
Critics had said that the city had fixed a paltry sum of $1.3m for the area and that Bacchus should either pay more or the council should be able to collect parking fees from those using the area.
The public had not been made aware of the decision until April 1 last year when former Mayor Hamilton Green wrote a letter to this newspaper pillorying it.
In his letter to this newspaper, Green said that “…except for the blocks north of Bourda Market, the rest of Merriman Mall was intended to be open spaces and cultural activities, preserving the greenery”.
The operation of the hotel and casino on Church Street has created traffic congestion in the area and the parking on the mall has helped to ease some of that.
