Govt clarifies position on Daula Hotel’s conversion to mall

Kano State government has said it has not yet given final approval for the construction of an ultra-modern and multi-purpose shopping mall at the former premises of Daula Hotel. The Commissioner for Information, Malam Mohammed Garba, had, in a statement on Friday, said the state’s executive council has given approval to Mudatex Mudassir and Brothers […]

Kano State government has said it has not yet given final approval for the construction of an ultra-modern and multi-purpose shopping mall at the former premises of Daula Hotel.

The Commissioner for Information, Malam Mohammed Garba, had, in a statement on Friday, said the state’s executive council has given approval to Mudatex Mudassir and Brothers Ltd, during its meeting last week, for the construction of a mall at the hotel’s site.

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‘There will be normal bidding’

However, while reacting to mixed reactions that greeted the announcement, the commissioner told Chronicle that there had been a misconception about the announcement.

He said what transpired was that Mudatex submitted a proposal to the council and it was observed that it was a viable project and as such, approval was given to Mudatex to submit details of the project to the Commissioner for Housing, who would then brief the council on the next step.

Garba said, “As of now, neither costing has been made for the project nor has the arrangement been agreed upon on whether it would be Public-Private Partnership (PPP) or not.”

The former Daula Hotel was earlier converted to one of the campuses of Kano University of Science and Technology (KUST) where the Hospitality and Tourism school of the institution was situated.

However, on Friday, residents took to social media and local media to express divergent views.

A Twitter user, Aliyu Nasir Othman, tweeted that converting the former hotel to a shopping mall would be more useful to Kano and its economy.

Another twitter user @IbnBuhari_  responded that “Daula is one of the flagship hotels here; is he leasing it out or are they selling it?”, adding sarcastically that “If care is not taken, even part of [Kano] government house will one day be sold out for shops construction”.