MovieTowne proprietor, Derek Chin, said that government has ceased meeting with them as several issues are affecting the smooth completion of their US$40M project, costing them additional millions in interest.
Guyana-born businessman, Derek Chin, said their multi-million-dollar investment is being plagued by several challenges resulting in additional charges to them. He made this disclosure on Tuesday when the Private Sector bodies had a tour of the facility.
Chin said that at the initial stage of their investment, they had regular meetings with those in government but as time progressed those meetings became scarce. He noted that those meetings are important since they can be used to iron out issues in relation to concessions, among other things.
Additionally, the businessman said that government should become more involved in the private sector and work hand in hand with them since they are the ones who are the drivers of the economy.
Meanwhile, Private Sector Commission (PSC) Chairman, Eddie Boyer, noted that there are several investments that are ready and waiting for Guyana but the government needs to understand that they have to work with the Private Sector to realize those developments.
He added, at this time, the focus should be on the speedy completion of the project since it has overrun several completion dates due to a number of factors.
In an effort to ease the burden on Chin, President of the Georgetown Chambers of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) Deodat Indar, offered to be the conduit between government and MovieTowne to assist with the completion of the project.
The initial cost of MovieTowne was pegged at US$30M but is now over US$45M due to several delays.
The investment is seen as the largest private sector undertaking in recent years and is expected to create several hundred jobs, while boosting the economy.
The facility was scheduled to be opened in May of this year but due to the constraints mentioned above it was pushed back to August.
