Sun and Sand Hotel project to commence soon – Govt

President Donald Ramotar on Monday confirmed that the construction of the US$54M Sun and Sand Hotel is expected to commence soon, dismissing misinformation being peddled by Opposition members that the project lacks transparency and is falling through.

Back in July, Ramotar had turned the sod along with officials from the Indian owned Sun and Sand Group of Companies for the commencement of work on the hotel.

The Hotel, when completed, will include a casino, along with a commercial block and club house.

Rooms

It will contain 163 rooms and provide jobs for several hundred Guyanese. The construction of the five-star hotel is expected to last for approximately 18 months.

In the interim, that work has been delayed somewhat due to teething issues with getting the project off the work.

But Alliance For Change (AFC) Leader, Khemraj Ramjattan is quoted in sections of the media as expressing the view that there might be more to the actual deal that the government negotiated with the Indian investors.

He alleged that his party was of the view that the project appeared less than transparent and that concession and other facilities may have been granted.

Information

Ramjattan is also on record as giving his party’s commitment to ascertain pivotal information about the deal that could remove any suspicion that it is being used as a front to enter in the lucrative operations in the mineral sectors in Guyana.

“We have few details of this deal. It was announced suddenly and we would like to know whether any mining concessions were tied to the hotel construction,” he is quoted as saying.

However, President Ramotar insisted that as far as he was aware, the project was still very much on the cards and there was no plan by the investors to withdraw or cancel their investment in the multimillion dollar venture.

When contacted, Tourism, Industry and Commerce Minister Irfaan Ali told Guyana Times International the same. He also denied allegations that the project had fallen through and promised to share more information on its current status with this newspaper.

Construction

Director of BK International Brian Tiwarie told this newspaper that the company has purchased all the equipment needed for construction to begin.

He disclosed that the officials of the company were working feverishly on completing some very important operational and administrative work.

Tiwarie said that they were still awaiting the approval of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and some other important paper work from the Lands and Survey Commission.

That, he reasoned, was responsible in part for the delay in the actual start up and operationalisation of the venture.

In addition, getting the plot of land at Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara surveyed, on which the hotel is to be built, has also posed a problem.

Efforts to speak with Bhushan Chandna, Chief Executive Officer of the company were unsuccessful as he was in a meeting when this newspaper placed a call to his mobile.

The Sun and Sand Group has also showed interests in venturing in gold mining in Guyana and other sectors of the economy.

The company has mining operations in South Africa and other countries.