According to the bill, licences may also be issued to a new hotel or resort complex ’with a minimum of 150 rooms’ and holding a minimum rating prescribed by regulations. Initially, President Bharrat Jagdeo had said that licences would not be granted to hotels with less than 250 rooms and they must be of a four-star standard.
The bill says that failure to comply with the amendments could result in fines of not less than us$ 1 million and not more than us$ 20 million or a jail term of not less than six months or not more than two years.
It is expected that the bill would be rushed through parliament to allow for Buddy’s International Hotel and Resort to provide casino gaming facilities for guests who would be staying at the hotel over the period that Guyana would be hosting the Super Eight matches of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Cricket World Cup 2007 championship starting on March 28th.