Town Week impasse could rob Linden of much-needed economic activity
$15m needed for planning 2007 event
Stabroek News
January 12, 2007
The controversy between the Interim Management Com-mittee of the Linden Mayor and Town Council and the Kashif and Shanghai Organization over the payment to the Council of fees for the staging of the 2007 Linden Town Week may rob the entire community of the economic benefits that could derive from the successful staging of the event, according to Director of the Kashif and Shanghai Organization Kashif Mohammed.
And while Regional Chairman, Region Ten Mortimer Mingo has told Stabroek Business that he intends to engage both Mohammed and IMC Chairman Orrin Gordon in an attempt to end the impasse Mohammed says that it may already be too late for the Kashif and Shanghai Orga-nization to provide any guarantees that it can stage the event this year. "The problem is that this time last year we had already lined up our sponsors and had secured a certain level of financial commitment to the 2006 Town Week. At this stage we would have needed around G$15m to begin to do the kind of planning that would be necessary for a successful Town Week. It may already be too late to secure that level of funding," Mohammed told Stabroek Business.
Last year, the Kashif and Shanghai Organization in collaboration with the Linden Fund, USA planned and executed the first ever Linden Town Week which was widely acclaimed by residents of the community. Then, the organizers paid the IMC a franchise fee of $1m to stage the event. Mohammed told Stabroek Business that in addition to the franchise fee the organizers also funded the post-event clean-up as well as security and the hiring of venues at a cost of more than $600,000.
Last month the Kashif and Shanghai Organization re-ceived a letter from the IMC setting a fee of $2m for the staging of this year's event and while the IMC says that it is prepared to negotiate on the new rate Mohammed told Stabroek Business that the organizers were not prepared to go beyond its offer of 25 per cent of the takings from the Town Week up to a maximum of $1m which offer had been communicated to the IMC in writing.
Last year's event included a number of commercial, cultural, entertainment, sports and educational activities and attracted participation from United States-based Lind-eners who returned home for the event as well as revellers from other parts of the country.
IMC Chairman Orin Gordon
Linden sources say that the IMC's insistence on the doubling of the franchise fee is informed by the view that the organizers profited handsomely from the event last year and that a greater share of the takings should accrue to the community this time around. But Mohammed insists that no good can be derived from the IMC seeking to extract double the amount that was charged last year since the benefits to the community could not be measured in terms of how much the Council received from the event.
According to Mohammed the commercial activity associated with the public events that were part of Town Week 2006 meant that the business community including hotels, restaurants and vendors benefited directly from the Town Week. "The whole idea was to pass those benefits on to Lindeners directly and not through any other body," Mohammed said.
Meanwhile a source close to the Linden Fund, USA, the co-organizer of the 2006 Town Week told Stabroek Business that there was "uncertainty" about the role which that organization will play in this year's event. The Linden Fund, USA was last year instrumental in promoting the Town Week overseas and organizing the return to Guyana of several United States-based Lindeners for the event. Mohammed told Stabroek Business that while he could confirm that this year's Town Week would not be planned by last year's co-hosts he was uncertain as to whether the Linden Fund, USA would play a role in this year's event. "They have certainly been instrumental in bringing Lindeners back home for the event and if there is a Town Week this year they are certainly well-placed to do so again," Mohammed said.
Stabroek Business understands that other private organizations have approached the IMC about securing the franchise to stage the Town Week this year and that a decision as to which of them will be granted the franchise is likely to be taken shortly.
The impasse over this year's Linden Town Week comes at a time when economic activity in the once thriving mining town has waned in the wake of the decline in the fortunes of the bauxite industry. Recently, the Chinese mining company Bosal acquired the assets of the Linden bauxite operations which have been managed by Omai Bauxite, a subsidiary of the Canadian company IAMGOLD since 2004.
Economic activity in Linden including investment in the town's agricultural sector is also supported by the European Union-funded Linden Economic Advance-ment Programme. (LEAP)