Ibom Tropicana: A’Ibom Govt To Reconstruct Convention Centre, Hotel

By Bassey Nkponam
UYO
Gov Umo Eno has reassured on his administration’s commitment to revamping the moribund Ibom Tropicana Entertainment complex, by re-constructing the Ibom International Convention Centre and Hotel in furtherance of the tourism drive of the ARISE Agenda.
The State governor, Pastor Umo Eno, who stated this Saturday, during an unscheduled inspection of the facilities, restated his administration’s earlier plans to revamp moribund facilities in the State, particularly the Ibom Tropicana Entertainment complex. 
  Briefing Government House correspondents shortly after an inspection of the facilities, Eno said the decision was in furtherance of the tourism drive of the ARISE Agenda of his administration, and to prevent the facilities from continuously lying waste considering the volume of funds already sunk into the projects by previous administrations.
  He said the unscheduled inspection of the facilities was to bring out the best in terms of appropriate interactions with the workers, observe the quality of work done, timely completion of the project and execution according to specifications.
“You need to know how much we have sunk into these projects. And, you need to know how much of Akwa Ibom money is invested here. Akwa Ibom State is fast becoming a tourist destination. So, we need to tidy up these projects to effectively build up our digital economy.
“If our focus is on building a world-class economy in terms of diversification, we can’t do without an International Conference Centre like this which seats about 5,000 people at a go, and also boasts of breakout rooms.
“We also have this hotel with about 200 rooms tied up to the International Convention Centre. This place also has a shopping city as well as a theme park which we are about to go into a Public Private Partnership arrangement.
“What motivates me in all these inspections is the amount of money put in these projects. We are elected to serve the people; and, you put your mind where your money is. So, we have to restart this construction, and I love unscheduled inspection to see what is happening and ascertain if the workers are on site.
“It is not just enough to give a contract. There is a schedule, a timeline. We need to visit sites to know if the timeline is realistic or do we have any challenge anywhere? So, when you come to the site, you are able to deal with the issues right there and then,” he explained.
“For me, I was taught way back in my business school class that, in Africa, you get what you inspect, you don’t get what you expect. So, that principle helps me a lot.
The governor hinted that the projects would be officially flagged off this week adding that he needed to see and know what was on ground to be able to say exactly as it is without any contradictions after the flag off.
“And, the best way to inspect this work is to do it unscheduled,” he explained.