Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Badal puts his foot in his mouth.



Robert Badal: Government building hotels with tax payers’ money for leasing to foreign Hotel Chains…while the President misuses our tax dollars for the benefit of his friends


The question in my mind is if Mr. Robert Badal knew all these things were “wrong” with Guyana and “they” needed fixing to have a successful Hotel Investment, why did he invest to the point of borrowing money to purchase the Pegasus?

I would want to think he did conduct a feasibility study on the returns on his investment. What is he trying to say here?

Could it be that he bought the Pegasus with the intention of doing the “bad” streets of Georgetown, or building schools with a computer for every child, or giving us constant electricity, etc. (including everything else he noted, highways, drains, water…) with the profits from his hotel that the govt. couldn’t do?

Or, that even if these “issues” did exist, Guyana wasn’t good enough for investing in a hotel?

During the Burnham years and his PNC ERRORS, the Pegasus thrived, and that was the time Guyana DID suffer chronically with the issues he mentioned, no water, no electricity, no nothing and still Pegasus was there operating. How controversial.

The last time I checked while travelling thru various Caribbean countries; Barbados nor Antigua nor Grenada nor St. Lucia nor Jamaica nor St. Maarten, all major tourist countries, just to name a few, none had better roads, etc. than Georgetown, Guyana, nor did any of them have a school that provided a computer for every child, and they have huge hotels and massive Hotel Chains, to the point where these hotels are “the backbone of their host countries’ economy”.

Sometimes, some people just need to understand that competition is inevitable. With competition, prices are made cheaper for consumers. As far as I can see, Mr. Robert Badal believes in Monopolising the hotel industry in Guyana so he can charge exorbitant rates to make back the money he “borrowed”. That’s not a bad idea, but Guyana does not need a monopoly in any industry, just look at the telecommunication industry in Guyana, GT&T is not alone.

3 comments:

  1. The benefits of an investment in Guyana from such a recognised brand named Hotel encompass just economic development. We as Guyanese should embrace this project and begin to anticipate a brighter future for our country.

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  2. Badal has like many unfortunate souls become entrenched in the usual Jagdeo bashing syndrome. The fact is that with a branding like Marriott, Guyana position as a global tourist destination will be greatly enhanced, its a pity that Badal couldn't see the bigger picture

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  3. Badal is a businessman - and as such all businessmen take risks when investing - the fact that Guyana like any other developing country has its share of problems is not enough reason to not invest... he has shared his opinion however wrong ...however correct...

    We need constructive dialogue and suggestions on making our country better - lashing out at each other is never a clever option...

    Another thing - let us move on and stop reliving the past - if we live in the past we deprive the present of possibilities and risk an uncertain future - wake up people, don't smell coffee & expect it to taste like tea...

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