Qatari Hotel land: Govt will not allow M&CC to “shake down” investors – VP to Mayor

The controversy surrounding the proposed US$300 million Qatari hotel project along Carifesta Avenue, Georgetown has intensified, with Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo accusing the Georgetown Mayor and City Council of attempting to “shake down” investors, while Mayor Alfred Mentore insists on formally notifying the investors of the alleged land dispute before taking legal action.
During his weekly press conference, Jagdeo strongly criticised the City Council’s approach, calling it a “hustle” and a deliberate attempt to stall a transformative development project.

In fact, he emphasised that the project, which involves the construction of five-star hotels, would be a game-changer for Guyana’s economy, creating thousands of jobs and reshaping the capital’s landscape.
“They know they don’t own the land. It’s been proven, et cetera. But this is consistent with APNU’s anti-development agenda. Just imagine you would give a $350 million US investment, a massive revenue stream to the City Council. You’re going to have, it would change the outlook of the whole city, because the hotels that would go up there would not be of the regular kind. These are major five-star hotels that would be reserved for that area. It will transform Guyana. There will be almost nothing like those hotels anywhere in the Caribbean. You should want to encourage the project taking place. Thousands of Guyanese will be working, providing services to those hotels. Change the whole landscape. They’re trying to block it, the PNC [People’s National Congress], through the Mayor,” the Vice President said.
During a statutory meeting held on Tuesday, Mayor Mentore secured the APNU[A Partnership for National Unity]-led City Council’s approval to write to Assets Group, the Qatari investors behind the project. Mentore argued that the investors must be formally notified of the dispute before legal proceedings are pursued.
In response, the Vice President stated that the Government would take decisive action to block any attempts, emphasising that the Administration would not permit the City Council to ‘hustle’ the investor.
“I think this is a hustle, trying to shake down people, but it’s not going to happen. We’re not going to allow the City Council to shake down the investors. This is how countries get a bad reputation; they go around and you have hustlers trying to meet with the investors to collect money from them or something like that. I think this is precisely what’s happening,” he assured.
The Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GLSC) on several occasions reiterated the State’s ownership of lands located on Carifesta Avenue in Georgetown that are to be sold to the tune of $2 billion to the Qatari investors for the construction of the US$300 million Georgetown Seafront Resort and Convention Centre.
The Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC) has been claiming that it owns the land earmarked for this project – something Government has debunked and the GLSC had previously presented evidence to prove this.
Back in March 2024, the Lands and Surveys Commission submitted transport documents and detailed in length the distribution/ownership of the lands in the area to refute the M&CC’s claim.
In March 2024, City Engineer Colvern Venture had confirmed that the plot of land which was earmarked for the Qatari hotel belonged to the Guyana Government.
“My research also revealed that the plot of land to which the Mayor referred, at the Statutory Meeting, held on February 26, 2024, is owned by the Government of Guyana under Transport # 235 of 1863,” he had said in a statement.
His position was in response to a cease order notice which was inadvertently posted at the plot of land on Carifesta Avenue – where the $64.5 billion Georgetown Seafront Resort and Convention Centre is slated to be completed by March 2026.