PNCR to lease headquarters land for hotel construction

Last Updated on Friday, 18 September 2026, 18:41 by Written By Denis Chabrol

The People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) has decided to lease the northern section of its vast expanse of land on which its Congress Place headquarters at Sophia sits, officials said.

The sources said the land would be used to construct a hotel as part of a broader plan by the PNCR to monetize its properties through its company, Maikwak Limited. One of the sources said the lease is expected to guarantee the PNCR a steady stream of revenue.

General Secretary of the PNCR Sherwin Benjamin pushed back against critics on Social Media, denying that moves were afoot to sell the party’s real estate. “Let me say categorically and vehemently that the People’s National Congress Reform has not sold Congress Place,” he said, adding that there was no plan to do so now or in the future.

Mr Benjamin referred to recent utterances by PNCR leader Aubrey Norton that their party had activated its business arm, Maikwak. The General Secretary issued a stirring appeal to party members to have confidence that their leaders had “clean hands” and were working in the best interest of their 70-year old political organisation founded  by now late Forbes Burnham. “I want to say to our members and supporters that you have to have faith in the leadership of this party. “We have nothing to hide. We have been dealing with our membership in an upfront manner, and so let us put aside the fears and the apprehension that we are selling Burnham’s party,” he said.

Though the PNCR’s General Council has not met  since Guyana’s general and  regional elections held one year ago, Mr Benjamin said that constitutional body would meet later this year. He said the council, his party’s second highest decision-making body in between congresses, would rubber stamp decisions taken by the central executive. “We will have a general council before the end this year, and those matters and decisions we have made will be ventilated and ratified,” he said. Mr Benjamin said party members were being kept abreast of decisions that were being taken by the central executive. He said General Council meetings were not being held for two major reasons. We’ve had we’ve had issues in terms of timing and issues of bringing our members together, and therefore having sort of those issues, we will now have the the General Council as required to be held before the end of the year,” he said.

Over the past 35 years, the PNCR had section of its land at Sophia to a city business, a property on Croal Street that once housed Vanceram, a property on Smyth Street where its printery was based, among others.

The General Secretary also called on PNCR faithful to cease criticising their organisation and its leader, Mr Norton, who has been excoriated several times for allegedly sidelining members he did not agree with and leading the party, which is the leading party in the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) into its worst electoral defeat.  “Each one of us has a responsibility to this great party to ensure its success, and we’re doing that at the level of our leadership. Beating a leader or beating leadership is beating the party. Let’s stop this nonsense,” Mr Benjamin said.

PNCR/APNU’s campaigning for the September 1, 2020 general and regional elections was lacklustre compared to the well-resourced incumbent People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) and We Invest in Nationhood (WIN).

WIN, founded by a billionaire former gold exporter and foreign exchange dealer, replaced APNU as Guyana’s main opposition party, clinching 16 of the 29 opposition seats. APNU got 12 and Forward Guyana Movement one seat.