Guyana's president Bharrat Jagdeo declared last week that "there has to be financial closure in the deal between financiers and others involved in the construction of a US$52 million hotel/casino in the Kingston area before it can be made public." The gambling property is being developed by Pakistani businessman Michael Ahmad and Italian Natale Barranco from Adam Development and Urban Associates (ADUA), a company registered in Manhattan, New York.

Jagdeo insisted that all the information would be made available after the completion of the deal, since at present the parties involved were bound by a confidentially agreement, which is a standard business practice in the case of all large projects. The president added that any talk about lack of transparency by the opposition was just political talk.

Ahmad and Barranco said that the project was expected to be for a four or five-star hotel, adding that there was not much more they could say because of the confidentiality agreements with their bankers, amongst other interested parties. The developers said that they had been in negotiations for branding and management of the property with the internationally renowned Marriott Hotel group, which has acknowledged being in discussions with ADUA.

Ahmad commented that he had been visiting Guyana for several years and had observed the need in the lodging market in Guyana, and that he had approached the Guyana government for an investment in the sector to meet international standards about three to four years ago. It is expected that the building would be 10 stories high, catering for some 150 to 200 rooms and open to the public by 2010.
(E-03.20.08)

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