A North Rift task force will assess Covid-19 safety compliance by all big hotels and eateries before they are allowed to reopen.
Many establishments in Eldoret are open but have not complied with all requirements.
The task force of health and security experts will inspect more than 100 hotels to ensure they comply with the over 30 regulations by the Health ministry and the counties.
The governors welcomed Sh2 billion from the state to support revival of the tourism sector, including hotels and restaurants.
“Hotels and eateries wishing to open up must comply with the measures. Those who want to test workers can do so through private laboratories approved by the government," Uasin Gishu Governor Jackson Mandago said.
He is chairman of the North Rift Economic Bloc and said all governors had agreed on mandatory assessment and monitoring
More than 20,000 hotel workers in North Rift counties have been unable to access testing due to a dispute between hotel owners and governors over the cost of testing and where it should be done.
CS for Tourism Najib Balala had directed testing be done at public hospitals for Sh1,000 per test but counties have asked hotel and restaurant owners to use more costly private laboratories.
Governors say Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital and other public testing centres will focus mainly on suspected Covid-19 patients due to lack of resources.
Hotel owners complain private labs charge more than Sh8,300 per sample, which they called unaffordable.
“We cannot afford such costs in private facilities. Some hotels have up to 200 workers and it's not possible to raise such money for testing," chairman of the region's hotel workers Kevin Okwara said.
Workers must be tested frequently.
Okwara led the hotel owners to meet Uasin Gishu county commissioner Abdirisack Jaldesa whom they told the conditions for testing and reoping were unworkable.
Last week Mandago ordered all hotels, restaurants and eateries in Eldoret and other parts of the county to close until they comply with all regulations. Closure notices have been served on most establishments.
Hotel owners in Eldoret call the conditions for reopening unfair.
Okwara says the hospitality industry is on the brink of collapse with thousands of jobs at stake yet the government was trying to enforce measures that won't revive the sector.
Okwara says they cannot afford the cost of frequent testing of hotel workers and cannot operate without lodging facilities as directed by Tourism CS Najib Balala. He says hotels should be allowed to operate like other sectors while observing the minimum conditions like wearing masks and hand washing to control Covid-19.
“We have been asked to comply with so many costly conditions yet at the moment we are not making any money to pay for them, " Okwara said.
He said it was ironic that the government was shutting down accommodation in hotels while at the same time allowing some Kenyans to operate as part of essential services. “Where will the same people offering essential services spend the night if hotels can't open?" Okwara asked.
(Edited by V.Graham)
