DMCH still owes hotels Tk40cr in quarantine bills
“According to our agreement, the food and accommodation bill was to be paid within 8-10 days. Although other hospitals paid, Dhaka Medical is yet to clear its bill.”
Highlights
- 3 months of bills unpaid
- Hoteliers demand payment for at least one month by 30 June
- Human chain formed on Monday in front of DMCH administrative building
Around 30 hotels are still waiting for about Tk40 crore in quarantine billing dues for three months, from Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH).
Hotels that provided quarantine services for some three months, to doctors, nurses, and health workers of DMCH, are demanding payment of at least one month of the arrears by 30 June.
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The Bangladesh International Hotel Association (BIHA), a residential hotel owners' organisation, formed a human chain in front of the DMCH administrative building on Monday to press home their demand. A memorandum was also given to the DMCH director when the human chain protest ended.
Khaled-Ur-Rahaman Sany, managing director of Golden Tulip the Grandmark Dhaka and co-chairman of the BIHA disaster management committee, said, "We kept health professionals in different star-rated hotels at various times since late May last year at very low cost, at the request of the Directorate General of Health Services. The accommodation cost of a room was anywhere from Tk500 to Tk5,000 a night.
"According to our agreement, the food and accommodation bill was to be paid within 8-10 days. Although other hospitals paid, Dhaka Medical is yet to clear its bill."
Khaled said, "From July to September last year, the due bill was around Tk40 crore for three months. Earlier, we got the payment for one month's bill only," he added.
He said, "Although the health ministry approved Tk16 crore in July, we did not get it due to bureaucratic complications at the hospital. As the 2020-2021 financial year is coming to an end on 30 June, the money allocated for our quarantine will be returned to the government if the bill is not paid us by June. Under these circumstances, we demand payment for the due bill of one month by June 30, and the rest as soon as possible."
After receiving the memorandum from hoteliers, DMCH Director, Brigadier General Md Nazmul Haque told reporters, "There were some objections in the 2020 audit concerning hotel bill payment. As such, new approvals have to be taken."
"Meetings are ongoing with the health ministry on how to resolve the issue quickly. We are trying to pay them back as soon as possible," he added.
While the entire hospitality sector is one of the worst affected amid the pandemic, these hotels were trying to survive by hosting health professionals dealing with Covid-19 patients. Around 3,000 rooms of these hotels were occupied by Covid-19 front-liners, with only 30%-35% occupancy of their business on average, according to hoteliers.
Hoteliers said that due to non-payment of due bills, the salaries of their hotel workers have been suspended for a long time in the ongoing corona pandemic. Many are living inhuman lives without pay.
Furthermore, due to non-payment of bills by hospitals and the like, they in turn are not able to pay their bills to various other service providers, including DESCO and WASA. In this situation, a memorandum has also been placed with the chief secretary of the Prime Minister's Office on Sunday.
The customary accommodation cost at a five-star hotel is around Tk17,000 a night, and Tk12,000 for a four-star hotel room. The standard meal charge is around Tk3,500-Tk5,000.
The government provided physicians and nurses treating Covid-19 patients in different hospitals across the country, room and board in different hotels so that they did not bring back the coronavirus from hospitals to infect their family members.
