Demerara Waves Online News- Guyana Riding on the Crest of Truth
Last Updated on Monday, 7 November 2016, 17:01 by Denis Chabrol
The owner of Sleepin Hotel, Clifton Bacchus on Monday said he would be transferring several buildings to his company as part of preparations to re-apply for licences to operate a casino.
“I am transferring properties into the company’s name and it will take another month and then I will re-apply,” he said, adding that those properties are free of encumbrances such as loans. “I will transfer them and boos t up the financial aspect of the company and then re-apply.”
The Guyana Gaming Authority on Monday announced that following a thorough consideration of applications for a Casino Operator’s Licence and a Casino Premises Licence the authority “unanimously found no evidence upon which it could arrive at a determination that Sleepin International Hotel & Casino Inc. qualifies for the issuance of the licenses applied for, having regard to its failure to provide the Authority with documents evidencing its financial soundness and capability, one of the critical criteria for the granting of such licenses.”
He also said that he has teamed up with Yokohama, which operates several casinos in Suriname, to supply several of its machines to Sleepin’s casino with an agreement to pay for them over a period of time. He said Yokohama is offering consultancy services to adapt the machines to work in Guyana.
Bacchus hopes that after he has provided sufficient financial information about his corporate entity the Guyana Gaming Authority will grant him a licence that would see the employment of at least 300 of the 400 applicants to work around the clock.
The Sleepin boss explained that he was previously operating as a sole trader but now that he has formed a company, he is the largest shareholder and so his assets are separate from those of the company.
Bacchus said Sleepin has so far spent US$15 million and he has submitted proof of the mortgages to the Guyana Gaming Authority.