Hotel owner slams ABC’s online report

 THE owner of a hotel on Manus has condemned an Australian Broadcasting Commission report that the rooms are “converted containers”.

Sam Tansion, who owns the Seeadler Bay Hotel, said an online report by ABC last Thursday reported “very damaging news” against him over a police contract for accommodation in Manus under the Regional Resettlement arrangement between Australia and Papua New Guinea. 

The report said the Australian Government refused to pay the hotel bills for a PNG police unit guarding the detention centre after it moved to more expensive accommodation.

Tasion said his hotel has 72 self-contained rooms which were fully air-conditioned and not shipping containers converted into rooms as stated in the ABC report. “I am  surprised that a reputable Australian media outlet has not done its homework by publishing a very poor news report,” he said.

The report said the police unit had been staying at the Harbourside hotel at a rate of $128 (K262.70) a night.  But on January 25, the officers moved to the nearby Seeadler Bay Hotel, where a “converted shipping container” cost $310 (K363.35) a night.