Govt should take over five-star hotel: Ronnie

SHILLONG: Urban Affairs Minister Ronnie Lyngdoh, who is yet to get hold of the file related to the five-star hotel on Jail Road, suggested that the government should take over the hotel from the private party if it had violated the agreement.
HM Cements, which had entered into an agreement with the Urban Affairs Department in 2010 to construct and run the hotel on a PPP mode had defaulted in the payment of rental worth over Rs 1 crore to the Shillong Municipal Board.
Moreover, the construction has come to a standstill though the exteriors of the building were completed.
While the Urban Affairs Department is the signatory of the agreement, the Shillong Municipal Board is the beneficiary.
The hotel was constructed after demolishing the old Shillong Municipal Board office premises.
When asked about his views, the Urban Affairs Minister said, “The file related to the matter has not come    to me. I have to study the agreement as it is a serious case.”
The Minister also said there should have been proper technical and financial bids before allotting the work to the private entity.
After HM Cements defaulted in payment of dues, the Municipal Board had sent legal notice to the firm and subsequently the Urban Affairs Department officials favoured taking over of the hotel by the government.
However, an official source said the file related to the matter is pending with some higher authorities.
HM Cements had claimed that it had tied up with Marriott Group of Hotels, USA, to run the five-star hotel on Jail Road.