N600m Debt Stalls Hotel Use

The Gombe State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Mr Samuel Bulus, has attributed the closure of the multi-million naira Gombe International Hotel to a N600 million debt owed contractors by government.

Bulus told newsmen on Thursday in Gombe that the contractors had refused to hand over the hotel, inaugurated more than a year ago, to the state government.

Our correspondent  recalls that former governor Danjuma Goje had in April 2011 inaugurated the hotel but was yet to be put to use.

The commissioner however said that Gov. Ibrahim Dankwambo had approved the payment of the debt to the contractors to ensure that the facility was properly utilised.

According to him, even after the liabilities were paid, kitchen and laundry equipment that were installed in the hotel need to be test-run before they could be put to use.

“There are still little additional works to be done, such as putting barb wire on the wall, landscaping of the frontage and others,’’ he said.

The commissioner also said that government plans to construct three-star hotels in Billiri and Kumo towns to boost tourism and improve its internal revenue.

He said that the government would construct a cultural centre in Gombe, as well as develop other tourism sites, including the historic Gombe Abba village.