Dear Editor,
When it was conceived prior to 2011, The Marriott Hotel Guyana was a bold vision of the Jagdeo Administration: as he understood the development his administration was working towards, and that, in the new and developed Guyana he envisioned at the time, it would need world-class facilities to attract and accommodate investors and tourists, and to enhance the image of our country. Such a vision was beyond any of the gambits of financial feasibility studies, as this was part of a transformative economic agenda.
Feasibility studies have tremendous limitations on transformative economic agendas, as many of the underlying assumptions are unknown. This Marriott project was written off by Glen Lall, as was highlighted in the Peeping Tom article below, published on March 09, 2012.
“Do we need the proposed Marriott-branded hotel that the former government had in mind? Is such a project feasible, given the many existing hotels and the poor occupancy that they enjoy at present?
“One person who feels most definitely that Guyana does not need this multi-billion-dollar facility, that was supposed to be one of the major economic initiatives of the Jagdeo Administration, is the former President’s fiercest critic, Mr. Glenn Lall, the publisher of Kaieteur News. He is adamant that there is much wrong with this project. He insists that it is not viable, and is willing to put his assets where his mouth is. Glenn Lall made it known in no uncertain manner that he was willing to give away Kaieteur News if anyone could convince him that this hotel will be viable.”
It is now May 2023, and the visionary, transformative economic agenda of the Jagdeo Administration has proven that the Marriott was a feasible venture and a good economic investment. Glen Lall, with the benefit of hindsight, has now switched position from arguing how bad an investment Marriott was in 2012 to how good it is now in 2023, and that Government should not dispose of its shares.
If the Jagdeo Administration had listened to the poor advice of Glen Lall in 2012, there would have been no Marriott Hotel today.
The Government is doing the right thing to dispose of Marriott Hotel at this time, so it can redirect capital and capabilities to other transformative projects. The Government’s role is not to run businesses, but to facilitate them.
The Government intervened at the right time to make an investment in an area of development that was not attractive to private investors, and now that the objective of the investment has been achieved, it is the right time to dispose of the entity.
Yours sincerely,
Alvin Hamilton
