GASABO - A major crackdown on hotels and bars that do not have appropriate facilities to ensure security in their respective neighborhoods will soon be carried out.

This was revealed yesterday by the acting Commissioner General of Police, Mary Gahonzire, during a meeting with various hoteliers in the country that took place at Police Headquarters in Kacyiru.

"There are generally agreed upon standards to which these businesses have to conform. They know those standards and we shall embark on that operation (crackdown) soon,” Gahonzire said.

She said that they will be working closely with people who run these businesses through a joint committee between the police and business people.

"You all know that all bars are not allowed to play loud music during late hours and night clubs are supposed to have soundproof facilities in order not to antagonize the peace of people living in those neighborhoods,” she said.

Also discussed during the meeting was the problem of minors who go to bars and some business operators serve them alcohol.

"These are our children. We should all have a collective responsibility over them because even you are parents,”, she urged, saying that some bars actually facilitate these children to access drugs like marijuana.

Other issues discussed included the problem of prostitutes and the underage who are taken to hotels and other accommodation facilities by sexual partners.

When it got to the problem of prostitutes who are taken to these places as partners, some hoteliers claimed ignorance of the law that criminalizes prostitution.

"For the underage, it is clear to all of us but it gets difficult to identify prostitutes who come to our hotels with partners…it is difficult because you cannot tell a person’s girlfriend from a prostitute,” said Callixte Kalisa who owns a lodging facility in Gikondo, a Kigali suburb.

To this, police said that they do not have to stop everyone who came to their hotels but said there are some places where prostitutes are found camped at the entrance of a hotel waiting for prospective suitors.

Gahonzire urged all these businessmen to employ security officers who will liaise with the police on security matters.

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