The Management of Farmington Hotel says its attention has been drawn to information emanating from several media outlets and personnel that the General Manager of the Hotel, Dominique Viard, has refused to appear before the leadership of the House of Representatives. “The Independent newspaper and other journalists have informed the public that the General Manager of Farmington Hotel, Mr. Viard, was invited by the leadership of the House of Representatives to provide responses to inquiries on what they described as ‘tax holiday and corporate social responsibility by the hotel’,” a Farmington Hotel press statement noted.
“The Farmington Hotel Management wishes to inform the Liberian People and the general public that said story is not only false and misleading, but one intended to demean or lower the image of the hotel, as well as the character of its General Manager, Mr. Dominique Viard. Let it be made resoundingly clear that at no time did the management of Farmington Hotel Liberia, through its General Manager, Mr. Viard, refuse to appear before the leadership of the House of Representatives.
“However, the truth is, on November 12 the House of Representatives, through its Chief Clerk, Madam Mildred Sayon, invited the General Manager of Farmington Hotel to appear before its leadership to respond to issues of Tax Holiday and corporate responsibility towards the citizens of Electoral District #2, Margibi County. Due to the nature of the invitation, the management of Farmington Hotel referred the matter to her counsel of lawyers. The hotel’s lead lawyer, Cllr. Johnny Momoh, wrote the House of Representatives, informing the body that Mr. Dominique Viard is not best suited to respond to issues relative to tax holiday and social corporate responsibility by Farmington, as he is just a manager. Therefore, he requested for a two-week period from the House of Representatives, at which time the shareholders and directors of Farmington Hotel Liberia will be in the country to respond to the inquiries,” the press statement continued.
“Meanwhile, the Management of Farmington Hotel Liberia wants to make it unequivocally clear that the hotel is paying all taxes required by Liberian laws, including Income Tax, NASSCORP Tax and goods and services Tax (GST). We have contributed a lot to the community in which we operate. Some of our social corporate projects toward the community include the renovation of the RIA Community School; construction of hand pumps, and many others. Despite the negative impacts of COVID-19 on businesses, the Farmington Hotel management maintained all of its employees on payroll.
“Finally, the Farmington Hotel Management urges all media practitioners to fast check their information on Farmington Hotel at all times before publishing. The doors of the hotel are open to all, especially the media, for factual reporting. We crave for a cordial working relationship with both houses of the Legislature and the media,” the press statement added.