AMMAN — Crowne Plaza
Petra Hotel is expected to reopen next year following a 10-year hiatus for
renovations, including expansion, which caused a stir over the costs involved
and its closure for so long.
اضافة اعلان
“I expect that the
project will be completed in the first quarter of 2023,” revealed
Sulaiman Al-Farajat, chairman of Petra Development Tourism Regional Authority.
“It will supplement
the hotel sector in
Petra and provide more than 200 job opportunities for the
local community”, Farajat told
Jordan News.
The Crowne Plaza
Hotel, which is part of the InterContinental Hotels Group, was inaugurated
outside the famed tourist city of Petra in 1983. It closed down in 2012 for
renovation and expansion.
The
Investment Fund, which is affiliated with the Social Security Corporation, usually invests
in hotels, including their renovation, as well as other profitable projects in
the tourism sector.
Crowne Plaza’s
closure and the 10 years spent in refurbishing it drew a controversy by some,
who questioned the costs involved.
Insurance and social
protection expert Mousa Al-Subaihi said money spent on refurbishment went to
“waste”.
“The millions that
have been wasted are the money of the citizens subscribing in the
Social Security,” Subaihi told
Jordan news.
“It is the money of
workers and employees in all sectors,” he pointed out.
“The Investment
Fund should either permanently quit investing in the tourism and hotel sector,
or work in successful and distinguished companies that manage hotels and large
tourism investments where it achieve profits and reward returns,” he added.
Subaihi said the
JD40 million spent on the hotel since its inception could have been used for
other projects. Of the total, he said JD14 million was the cost of establishing
Crowne Plaza Petra Hotel in 1983, another JD14.6 million was spent on the
current rehabilitation. The rest, or JD11.4 million, is profits and returns in
lost investment due to the hotel’s closure for more than 10 years, he added.
Subaihi said the
head of the Social Security Investment Fund “had promised that the hotel would
open its doors to receive guests before the end of 2022. She also said the same
in early 2020, that it would open its doors to tourists before the end of
2020.”
“But we are now in
the middle of 2022, and it appears, from some photos that were taken recently,
that the hotel’s rehabilitation project is unfortunately still stagnant,” he
maintained.
“Who is responsible
for the displacement of hundreds of employees, who were working in the hotel
before its closure?” he asked. He said some of the employees “are still looking
for suitable work until today, and the insurance has lost their subscriptions
as insured as well?”
Farajat, the
chairman of
Petra Development Tourism Regional Authority, countered Subaihi’s
claims.
“The information is
incorrect,” he said. “As the head of the authority and a direct observer of the
project, I see that the owner is doing his best to finish the project, and
there is clear progress.”
“I think the
completion rate is around 70 percent, and there is a clear follow-up by the
owner of the project,” he pointed out.
“Of course, the
restoration of an old building is not the same as building a new one, and it
may take longer to ensure a better result,” he explained.
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