Hoteliers groan over cost of running generators

Some hoteliers in Benin have decried the current power shortage in the Edo capital, saying they now spend so much on diesel to power their generators.

The managers of the hotels expressed their concern in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Benin on Sunday.

They described the situation as alarming, and called on government to urgently address the problem.

A manager in Badin Hotels, Benin, Mr Emmanuel Aiguobasinmwin, said the hotel spent between N800,000 and N900, 000 monthly to keep its generators running regularly.

``The cost is huge and it impacts on our business negatively, the reason being that even when you have few guests, you must power the generators.

``Aside the two generators that run simultaneously, there is always a standby one. Lots of money is required in this regard.

``But let me say here that another area where we spend a lot of money is on security. Making your guests comfortable also entails ensuring that they are secured,” he said.

Also, the proprietor of Kash Guest Inn who simply gave his name as Kevin, said that he spent about N6,000 daily to power his generating plant.

Kevin said although his was a guest house with only 12 rooms, he spent over N160,000 on a monthly basis on diesel.

He noted that a huge percentage of what would have been profit to him was being spent on diesel to run the generators.

``Doing this is a must if you want to remain in business. The first thing a guest asks you is whether there will be electricity supply all through the night.

``It really isn’t funny, but what else can one do. We will continue to plead with those in authority to do the needful for us to have food on our table,” Kelvin said.

Another hotelier, Tony Amadasun, said, ``if this present situation persists, I see lots of job cuts in the sector. Job cuts will be necessary in order to reduce cost.

``It is pathetic that government is not able to provide jobs for the graduates coming out of the tertiary institutions yearly.

``It is more pathetic that the same government is still not able to encourage those willingly to assist in proving employments.

``We are simply urging government to address the problem of power supply and insecurity,” Amadasun said.