A number of people working in the hotel industry in the Gambia are worried about their businesses as Banjul Breweries Limited Company Limited is on the verge of collapse.

Couple of weeks back, Banjul Breweries Limited Company Limited threatened to shut down business at any time following the government 75% tax increment on excise duty.

And the hotel industry feared that the closure of the Company will cause their businesses to crumble.

Speaking to procurement manager for Kairaba Beach Hotel,  Omar Fofana said his hotel is seriously affected by the current difficulty Banjul Breweries Company is engulf in, adding “the company used to deliver their products such as draught barrel beer to the hotel but now the hotel staff have to travel to the factory to get the products.”

He said he is worried that the closure of Banjul Breweries Limited Company will “seriously affect their businesses at the Hotel industry because it’s the only factory that produces soft drinks and alcohol in the country.”

 “We can’t operate without the drinks and draught barrel beers. I always order about 25 barrels of draught beers from the factory. If these products are lacking our guests would complain bitterly and we will be losing them,” he lamented.

Mr. Fofana said the closure of the factory will cause more job losses and increate the unemployment rate in the country, adding that “it may even lead to fewer tourists coming to the country.”

Another hotelier, Patrice Manga, manager of Senegambia Mini Market, said if the Banjul Breweries Company Limited closed it would have a serious negative effect on their businesses, “because we depend on the company for the running of our businesses.”

A restaurant owner who preferred to remain anonymous said if the government allows the company to shutdown that it will have huge negative effect on the population, adding “the price of soft drinks and beers will increase in the Gambia.”

Meanwhile, Banjul Breweries Limited Company Limited had already laid off 18 workers leaving about 150 other workers in fear of losing their jobs.

Reporting by Adama Makasuba