Breaking News:Powerful blast Near the Parliament

Spock · September 22, 2008, 4:42pm

Marriott to be rebuilt in 3 months - Owner Sadruddin Hashwani

Monday, September 22, 2008
      **Marriott owner assures employees of job security**
ISLAMABAD: Sadruddin Hashwani, the owner of the Marriott Hotel, has assured employees that not one of them will be rendered jobless, as he plans to reconstruct the hotel within the next three months at an estimated cost of over half a billion rupees.

His assurance must have come as a great relief to some 1000 employees of the hotel who were suddenly faced with the prospect of becoming jobless after the hotel was destroyed in Saturday’s suicide attack.

“Let me make it very clear to you that not a single employee would be rendered jobless as they will all be getting their salaries during the period of reconstruction of the hotel”, said Mr. Hashwani while talking to The News.

He said one of the employees who died in the blast had five small daughters. From now onwards, he said, they are his daughters and he would take care of them. Hashwani said that all these employees would be actively taking part in the rehabilitation of the hotel. But, he said, there is another possibility that they might be given them two months leave with pay. He said he had already started working on the rehabilitation plan.

Replying to a question about the cost of rehabilitation, Hashwani said although it was too early to give an exact amount, according to initial estimates it would cost Rs600-700 million. He said although he had set a three-month deadline to reconstruct the hotel, his major concern would be to arrange furniture within this short time.

Mr Hashwani observed that had the fire brigade reached there on time, the hotel might have been saved from complete destruction. Replying to a question about the Americans staying in his hotel, he wondered why this was being cited to justify the attack. He said all over the world hotels do not refuse stay to anybody and it was wrong to focus on a few Americans, as there were people from other countries present at the hotel as well. He said he was so sorry to see the loss of human lives on such a scale and repeatedly said he would not let any one become jobless.

Kudos to Mr. Hashwani. My dad visited the site today, and they are repainting it all white so that it doesnt look that bad till that time.