Two departments of the Ministry of Youth and Sports in the Yansané building in Guinea were closed early Monday due to unpaid rent.
Workers could not get in because the building’s front door was padlocked, with a sign at the entrance that read: “Access prohibited to personnel of the Ministry of Youth and Sports. Reason: for non-payment of rent.”
The building manager, Fodé Abass Sylla, said the rent hadn’t been paid for over two years.
Sylla explained that the closure followed months of trying to resolve the issue. He said:
The reason for the closure is non-payment of rent. The Ministry of Youth and Sports owes us more than two years of rent. Every time we submit the bills and try to meet with the officials, we are constantly rejected. It is difficult to cooperate with such state institutions, Mediaguinee quoted him.
Sylla added that they met with the minister three months ago, who promised payment that never came. Now, Sylla says they suspect the Ministry might be planning to move out.
If they move, they will not return here even if it is to take a single device. No worker from the Ministry of Youth will return here, he warned.
The Ministry of Youth and Sports, however, has a different view. According to them, the current Minister inherited a problematic situation regarding the rent. There was no formal contract between the Ministry and the landlord, and the State was paying 7 billion Guinean francs each month for the rent.
Mediaguinee reported that Minister Bogola Haba decided not to make payments without a clear contract and has now set up a new agreement with the building owners.
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