By Ayman Amzein.
Benghazi, 20 June 2014:
The Uzu Hotel, one of Benghazi’s landmarks, is undergoing a major overhaul. During the 2011 revolution . . .[restrict]the Uzu was the main hotel used by both the foreign press and injured fighters undergoing treatment. It has been closed since summer 2012.
The Uzu , owned by the Social Security Investment Fund, sits on a prime location next to the 23 July Lake. Most rooms have views either of the lake, which is really a lagoon, or the sea. Before closing in 2012, though badly in need of an overhaul, poorly run and with abysmal services, it was one of the few 4-star hotels in the city.
Istanbul-based Polimeks Construction, one of Turkey’s largest companies for foreign construction contracts, is undertaking the €29-million renovation of the hotel. Work on the turnkey design and build contract is expected to be complete sometime in 2015.
Work includes enlarging the existing 20-square-metre rooms to 24 square-metres, removing the façade, renovating the electrical and mechanical systems, a 174-capacity outdoor parking area and an outdoor sports pitch. After the renovation the hotel will have 240 standard rooms and 24 suites.
Among the noteworthy upgrades is the addition of six rooms that are specially equipped for guests with disabilities, an unusual feature in Libya. The company is also renovating the electrical and mechanical systems and improving the outdoor parking area to hold 174 cars.
Polimeks was founded in 1995 and has worked primarily in Turkmenistan, where it dominates the construction sector. Works there have included upgrading the airport and ministry buildings, museums, hotels, factories, residential units and a major sports complex.
This is the first project for Polimeks in Libya. “If we successfully complete this project,” the company’s chairman, Erol Tabanca, has said, “we will try to implement new projects there”. [/restrict]
