Throwback Jerseys mchkhaz4
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Throwback Jerseys mchkhaz4
| If I had a choice of Marriott or potable water in Georgetown, you know what I would choose! Guyanese spend millions of dollars on bottled water in this land of many waters. And the Government is spending billions of dollars on a hotel!What is worse, the hotel is being built on the seashore when we should be thinking of going inland.US$60 million will place this hotel among the most expensive hotels in the world on a cost per square foot; just as the cost per mW will place the Amaila hydroelectric project among the most expensive in the world.The so-called ‘Marriott’ hotel at US$50million will cost an average of US$200,000 per room (leaving money aside for lobby, etc.) – that is 40 MILLION GUYANESE DOLLARS per room!Assuming 65 per cent occupancy for 250 nights per year at US$150/night – the hotel will start to earn a return only AFTER 10 years. And that assumption is only on capital costs. It ignores operation and maintenance costs, franchise costs, electricity costs etc.By adding opex, one will see diminishing returns – or rather increasing losses. Any possible breakeven will only be seen in 15-20 years by which time the equipment and internal assets (other than the building) would have been fully depreciated three times around and require replacement.So why do it? Why is the Government so persistent that this is the best thing to do for Guyana? The attitude is as if we must forget about job creation, forget about potable water, forget about a new bridge for the Demerara River, forget about the other important things for Guyana. The government behaves as though without this Hotel, Guyana will die!One line of thought is that the project is being done to allow certain investors to come on board. But THAT is another story! After all,Wholesale China Jerseys Free Shpping, there is a lot of liquidity in the system and one can only use certain projects to turn over the liquidity. The investors will be ‘hidden’ to avoid any scrutiny and they will cloud the investor-ship with one or two ‘noble’ names who would have little choice but to invest.But, the deal is sealed. The hotel will be there before the next election. The special private investors will also pool together for the other piece of the jigsaw, that is, the casino. But that casino too, is another story and will have to be investigated separately and from the dimension of cash flows instead of investment and returns. Cash flows, of course, serve a different purpose.And certain members of the Private Sector will continue to praise the project. These are the very people who cannot discern any corruption in Guyana, yet they have, themselves, benefitted from the state of corruption in the country. They have ‘acquired’ assets, positions and holdings so that their support will always be guaranteed.But, the Guyanese public will not be fooled. We are waking up to reality, a reality beyond racial politics.The PNC-r-APNU, the AFC and the PPP must realize that the People’s Power spoke during the last election and will speak again. We are looking on! We are taking note of these missed opportunities and wanton excesses.And, in this case we will be looking on as the rising seas and pounding waves give cause for a project to continue to drain our taxpayers’ dollars down the Atlantic, no pun intended.Amused? Absolutely not! |
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