Tenders scrapped for Marriott casino …after minister holds secret talks with investor

May 31, 2019 News

A government minister last year reportedly had direct contact with a bidder who had expressed interest in operating a casino at the Marriott Hotel, Kingston.
That contact was deemed highly unusual and would have given the principals of Princess Casino an edge in the negotiations.
However, according to Government sources, that first tender was scrapped after word of the talks got back to the stakeholders managing the process.
Marriott Hotel is government-controlled and located in Kingston. The 197-room hotel was opened in early 2015 but an adjoining annex was never commissioned as the then government, under the People’s Progressive Party/Civic, was still seeking an investor to run a casino and an entertainment center.
In the financial plans, the casino was a critical component in helping Marriott to repay its debts, which stands at around US$30M.
In 2017, after being forced to step in and take over the bank payments, Government’s National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), advertised through its Atlantic Hotel Inc. (AHI), the company that owns Marriott, for operators of the casino.
Several bids came in. One was reportedly from the Princess Group, which runs the Princess Casino, Providence.
Another one reportedly came from Suriname. There were others.
Kaieteur News was told that all was going well in the assessment until late last year.
NICIL and PricewaterhouseCoopers reportedly found out that the minister spoke to representatives of Princess Group, which operates the casino at Ramada Hotel.
The conversations were highly questionable and raised questions.
NICIL and the other stakeholders felt that the talks would have raised serious questions about transparency and collusion.
The matter was raised at the government level and a decision was made last year to cancel the tender, Kaieteur News was told.
Marriott was built for US$58M and would have been in deeper trouble except that in 2015, ExxonMobil discovered large quantities of oil offshore.
A large influx of overseas oil officials have been filling its rooms, reducing dependency on the administration to pay the loans.
However, the casino section is badly needed to fully cover the commitments, including the loan.
With regards to talks with investors, it is highly unethical for Government officials to intervene in the procurement and assessment of state contracts.