GEORGE TOWN – The state government is unable to intervene in the impending closure of the landmark Equatorial Hotel in Bukit Jambul because contrary to popular belief, the state has no share in the business venture.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, who expressed sympathy for the closure, said that the Covid-19 pandemic is wreaking havoc on tourism-related sectors and hotels are severely affected by the movement control order, lockdowns, and travel restrictions.
“We (can only) hope the closure is temporary and the hotel will be back in business when the environment is more conducive. Meanwhile, the hotel needs to manage the workforce according to labour laws,” he told The Vibes.
The Vibes yesterday reported that Equatorial Hotel Penang in Bukit Jambul is calling it quits by March 31, as the tourism industry has been severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
An internal memorandum about the closure that went viral in social media stated that the owner’s decision to close the 662-room property was due to poor business worsened by the pandemic.
Some 300 employees will be offered a severance package.
Meanwhile, state tourism committee chairman Yeoh Soon Hin said the state government will continue to look into initiatives and measures to minimise the pandemic’s impact on the industry, and to plan in accelerating its recovery.
Yeoh said the state government will also constantly remind all parties to comply with standard operating procedures so that the MCO will not be extended and the economy can be reopened as usual.
“We are saddened to see another casualty of the pandemic. We also feel that it was a really difficult decision by the hotel and it was given no other choice but to close due to the current pandemic, ”he said.
Equatorial Hotel Penang was set up in 1990 to host a growing number of expatriates and tourists visiting the Bayan Lepas Free Trade Zone and Bayan Baru satellite town.
Engineers and technocrats who helped develop the industrial zone were frequent guests of the establishment.
The hotel had also hosted former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim during the latter’s tenure as deputy prime minister.
A spokesman for the five-star hotel’s general manager Alan H.C. Ong said when contacted that the hotel’s owners would be issuing a public statement on the matter soon. – The Vibes, January 26, 2021
