00:00Days after E-Tech, which has responsibility for Hilton, was moved from the Ministry of Trade, Investment and Tourism to
00:08the Ministry of Land and Illegal Affairs, the former line minister is speaking out on the matter.
00:14Minister Satyakama Maharaj tells TV6 News, in his opinion, government should not be involved in business.
00:22Because the problem is every 10 years you have to put four or five hundred million dollars. It has never
00:28ended well. Look at Petro-Trade and Kairi. Any time government gets involved in business, it doesn't end well.
00:35Maharaj believes a public-private partnership approach should be taken, with respect to Hilton and Magdalena.
00:42Public-private partnership. Listen, we do own the land and the property. Hilton, we do own the land and the
00:50property. So we have to get something back, tax payments. But, you know, if the private person makes money, we
00:57make something happy.
00:59Minister Maharaj denied reports that E-Tech was removed from his portfolio due to personal issues between himself and the
01:06E-Tech chairman.
01:07He also gave a stamp of approval to Minister Saddam Hussein as the new line minister.
01:13It's a, as I say, I'm working progress with them. Right? It's a valued brand. We want to keep them
01:21here. And we're meeting with them regularly. But we need a private part. Right?
01:3150% of the land is unoccupied. Some of the best property in the country, or that hillside up there,
01:38the best property. So if somebody can come in and say, you know, we want to take the Hilton and
01:42build villas and stuff, it becomes very bankable. Right?
01:47But we have to get our share of it, the taxpayers. So, you know, it's, it's, we're working on it.
01:55And it's a very capable hand on the land that we have.
01:59Renasa Cutting, TV6 News.
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