Imo govt., hoteliers issue new guests conditions against crimes
ASTRATEGY AIMED AT RESTORING Imo State to a peaceful state has been reactivated by the government in collaboration with the Imo State Hoteliers Association (ISHA).
It is hoped that the measure will go a long way to stem the rate at which crimes and criminalities are committed, specifically in the hotel and hospitality sector in the state.
Chima Chukwunyere, chairman of ISHA, and chief executive officer, Domino Paramount Hotel, Owerri, who spoke in his office, also added that the essence is to ensure in practical terms that crimes and criminalities are not only nipped in the bud, but help to showcase Imo as a state that is relatively crime free.
He stated that both local and foreign investors will now also see the state as being environmentally attractive to investors and businesses will thrive.
The strategy, which would be conspicuously displayed at the reception section of every hotel establishment in the state for lodgers to see, include, the information that the state government has directed that no guest or visitor should be allowed out of a hotel until the next person is confirmed alive, if they were more than one person when they came in.
The document also said that all hotels in the state must acquire the image of all guests, including that all guests checking into a hotel must provide identity cards and phone numbers before being allowed accommodation. Hotels are now to ensure that the correct data of the guest must also be obtained.
Chukwunyere said every hotel must ensure that it sends daily reports to the police, Department of State Services (DSS), Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), and that this “has taken a very heavy burden off the hotels in the state,” he added.
“This is the standard and if any of the hotels fails to implement it, whatever happens, the owners of the hotel will bear [the consequences],” the ISHA chairman said.
Chukwunyere, in an exclusive interview with Business a.m., urged members of the Imo State Hoteliers Association to strictly implement all the measures to the letter to help stem the rate at which guests or lodgers commit crimes, adding that the association would not help any hotel owner or management that deliberately refuses to adhere strictly to the measures.