Gombe Hotel: Magnificent but decaying
Our correspondent reports that in spite of the over N2 billion of Gombe taxpayers money sunk into the project, the hotel is still an empty, ‘magnificent edifice,’ standing in the heart of the state, begging for attention. Checks revealed that the hotel has been a long-standing project conceived and started since the advent of the […]
Our correspondent reports that in spite of the over N2 billion of Gombe taxpayers money sunk into the project, the hotel is still an empty, ‘magnificent edifice,’ standing in the heart of the state, begging for attention.
Checks revealed that the hotel has been a long-standing project conceived and started since the advent of the first civilian administration of former Governor Abubakar Habu Hashidu. The former governor had committed hundreds of millions of naira into the project. The sum helped to raise the completion level to 60%, only to be abandoned midway due to an excuse bordering on paucity of funds.
Sunday Trust gathered that in view of the public outcry over the abandoned project during the second tenure of the immediate past Governor Danjuma Goje, government revisited it and later re-awarded the project to the original contractors, Messrs Eagle Construction, with a completion period of eighteen months, to douse a widespread disenchantment within and around the state.
In May 2011, Governor Goje hastened the commissioning of the project, creating an impression that the hotel was ready to function. Some of the guests who attended the commissioning were even accommodated in the hotel. The hotel was commissioned without a full completion of work, giving the impression that Goje, who then only had few days to the end of his administration, hastened the process only to massage his political ego.
An investigation conducted by this reporter showed that while the hotel was fully furnished before the commissioning ceremony, landscaping of the hotel, laundry, lifts and kitchen facilities were among some aspects that have not been completed.
Further enquiries by this reporter revealed that at his emergence as governor of the state, Alhaji Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, was said to be confronted with various insinuations peddled about the project. He has not shown enthusiasm to pursue the completion of the project.
Governor Dankwambo set up committees, among which is that of commerce and industry. The hotel is under this ministry. At the time Dankwambo ordered for the freezing of all government accounts, including that which serviced payment for the ongoing hotel projects. The committee later submitted its report, though the details remain hidden. The governor, while receiving the report, assured the state that the hotel would be completed.
A former envoy and retired Assistant Inspector General of police (AIG), Ambassador Abdulmumini Abubakar, told Sunday Trust that the people have the right to ask questions because it is their money that was invested. “When you commission a project, you have created an impression that the hotel is ready to function.”
The retired AIG blamed the past administration for putting the cart before the horse, by engaging in a commissioning exercise without putting a proper management in place. He said for eight years, it had the opportunity to put everything in place, but didn’t do so.
Malam Muhammadu Deba, a civil servant, who spoke to Sunday Trust opined that Governor Dankwambo should complete the project because abandoning it would be at the expense of Gombe State.
In the same vein, a Gombe-based civil engineer, Engineer Baffa Abubakar, said when a building of such magnitude stays for too long without occupation and maintenance, there is the tendency for the building to crack and even collapse.
Engineer Abubakar said further that contractors may even raise claims for damages for stagnating their machineries and manpower on the site. They could even ask for redress for the violation of the agreed time frame of the contract.
When our correspondent visited the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, which is in charge of the project, the Permanent Secretary declined to comment on the matter and asked this reporter to call again. However, a source at the ministry said the newly created ministry of tourism and the former commerce were competing for the control of the hotel.
Meanwhile, Governor Dankwambo, during a recent budget presentation to the state’s House of Assembly, reassured the people that the hotel will soon be completed. He made a similar promise when he received a committee’s report on the hotel in July last year. Whether this time his assurances will be matched with action is left to be seen.