The management of Harmony Holdings Limited on Thursday submitted that it was aware of the protest organized by workers at one of its subsidiary companies ; the Kwara Hotel earlier in the day over nonpayment of salary for the past 7 months.
In a statement made available to Team@orientactualmags.com by its Corporate Affairs Unit , Harmony Holdings noted that while the development recorded on Thursday was unfortunate, it had however never failed in its responsibility while asserting that the Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq administration was also free from blame.
‘We have been doing everything within our reach as the investment management company of the Kwara State Government with the active support of the state government to fix the challenges confronting the hotel most of which were inherited from the previous administration’ the statement said.
Harmony Holdings also added that the Abdulrasaq administration met the Kwara Hotel in a deplorable state.
‘ It is on record that when Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq assumed office in 2019, Kwara Hotel, a 172-room facility, had below 20% of its room capacity functioning. Most of the rooms which serve as revenue line were not in a tenantable condition. The hotel had also taken a weary look with so many infrastructural ruins. Similarly, there were huge liabilities running into over N500 million inherited by our management and this government arising from the mismanagement of the hotel under the last administration.
Our task upon taking over the management of the hotel in 2019 was therefore onerous and multi-pronged. This includes but not limited to keeping the dying hotel afloat so as to sustain the current workforce many of whom are Kwarans while seeking for the most effective and sustainable solution to the long overdue infrastructural upgrade which clearly requires an investment not less than N2 billion to restore the lost glory of the hotel and reactivate its brand. In addition to the above mentioned critical needs, we had to confront the huge indebtedness many of which are in owed salaries, unremited pensions and even payment to suppliers’ the statement added.
Harmony Holdings also blamed former administrations in the state for accumulating debts that had consequently hindered the hotel from functioning effectively.
‘The public is rightly reminded that it was during the Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki-led administration that Austin Peters of KH Integrated Management Services (KHIMS) was appointed as a management consultant for the hotel. The terms of engagement required them to invest a minimum of Two million dollars which amounted to about Three Hundred and Sixty million naira at that time to upgrade infrastructure at the hotel and thereafter manage it for some years before ceding it back to the Kwara State Government.
Clearly, there is nothing bad in inviting a management consultant to run a company, but the misdemeanour lies in the fact that this management consultant never invested a dime in Kwara Hotel contrary to the terms of engagement. To our utmost consternation, it also went ahead to borrow over N350 million from the GT Bank in the name of the hotel which was totally paid back from the cash flow of the hotel with evidences showing that the borrowed funds were diverted and never invested in the hotel’ the statement said.
Harmony Holdings also noted that the state government had in many instances come to the rescue of the hotel adding that ‘the current source of agitation which is the accrued unpaid salaries of 7 months has received the attention of His Excellency Governor AbdulRazaq, who has graciously approved another intervention fund to clear the salary backlog, and the funds is being processed by the respective organs of government’.
‘Given his passion about the welfare of workers however, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has already approved the payment of over N26 million as an intervention in the interim to clear the outstanding 7- month salaries’ Harmony Holdings added.
The statement also said an investor , who will invest N2 billion in the hotel under what it called Joint Venture (JV) arrangements, will soon take over the management of the hotel and get it back on its feet.
‘Following a series of review, consultations and due diligence efforts, the current management of Harmony Holdings Limited deemed it fit to adopt the approach of engaging a very competent private sector investor with the requisite financial and technical capacity to rehabilitate the hotel, upgrade its status and manage it professionally. The Governor therefore consented to this proposal.
Following his approval, a thorough bidding process was initiated and a preferred investor and an international hotel brand have been recommended to handle the hotel management. The investment plan is for the investor to put in no less that N2 billion in the hotel under a Joint Venture (JV) arrangement that would also see the total obligations owed to the staff cleared from the payment of the upfront premium’ the statement said- Team@orientactualmags.com Do you have any information you wish to share with us? Do you want us to cover your event or programme? Kindly send SMS to 08059100286, 09094171980. Thank you
