By Sarjo Brito
Hotelier and business mogul Hatib Janneh has reacted to the establishment of a stakeholder group by non-Gambians called ‘The Restaurant, Bar and Nightclub Association of The Gambia’.
“You cannot have an association that is representing all bars, nightclubs, restaurants and then you only have Lebanese and Tubab, just one Gambian and now they say two.
“I asked Lamin what position they gave him and he said they made him spokesman and the other guy was made translator. For me that’s disrespect.
“I can never go to Holland, open a small restaurant and become the chairman of the restaurant [and] bar [association] in a million years,” Hatib Janneh told The Fatu Network.
He spoke as the newly formed association whose role is to advocate the interest of the leisure and hospitality industry is accused by aggrieved players including Janneh himself of side-lining Gambian owned businesses.
Major players in the industry like Club Envy and Big Apple say they were never notified about the formation of such an organization and therefore think it is non-inclusive or represents the interest of the wider stakeholder base of the sector.
Janneh and other business owners in the leisure and hospitality industry have since taken up their frustration with the Gambia Tourism Board.
They have petitioned the GTBoard demanding that the plight of the so-called association be ignored until all administrative issues that will make them complaint with the interest of the diverse actors in the sector are rectified.
