The Parliamentary Committee on Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Chaired by Hon. Mohamed Sheriff Rahman-Coker on Wednesday 31/07/2024 probed hotel and guest house management for compliance.

The investigation was held at the Conference Room of the New Building at Parliament at Tower Hill in Freetown.

However, during the probing session, Fatmata Sarah Soukenah, of the Sixth Parliament who is a Committee member revealed that most of the Hotels in Sierra Leone are suffering from an influx of flies and Cockroaches.

During the Probing, it was discovered that most of the hotel managers had failed to provide the committee with Certain Documents that govern the operations of these business

The Committee Members looked into a certificate of Registration with the National Tourist Board, minimum wage salary, recent audited report, waste management, corporate social responsibility (CSR), relationship with the community, payment for staff contributions to the National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT), Environmental Impact Assessment license, staff welfares, Pay as you earned (PAYE), working permit amongst others

The Committee observed that the proprietor/proprietress or senior management indulged in sending junior staff members to represent them for the Committee’s probing.

Key challenges affecting the businesses according to the witnesses include electricity, waste management, heavy taxation from the Government, inadequate water supply, and bad road network amongst others.