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Hotel workers threaten protests 

01 Nov 2022

BY Buddhika Samaraweera Expressing its displeasure over the recent statements of certain parties that the recent protests in the country have caused the collapse of the tourism industry, the Hotel Workers’ Union (HWC) of the Inter-Company Employees’ Union, whilst claiming that the tourism industry has collapsed because the Government has no programme to revive it, warned of a series of protests that will demand the Government to find solutions to the issue. Speaking to The Morning, HWC National Organiser Jayathilaka Ranasinghe said that in the past, many parties including professionals representing various fields, student movements, trade unions, and the general public took to the streets and launched protests demanding solutions to the problems that they are facing in the wake of the current economic crisis. He said that there was no political purpose in those protests, and that they were simply protests that emerged from the people.  “People did not and do not engage in protests because they have no other work to do. If they have everything that they need, if there is no problem, no one will take to the streets to protest. Therefore, it is unacceptable if someone says that the tourism industry collapsed because of these protests. We can clearly say that such parties are fulfilling a contract of the Government led by President Ranil Wickremesinghe, by propagating such ideas,” he said. Ranasinghe further said that the tourism sector has seriously deteriorated at the moment, adding that the solution to rebuild it is not to suppress protests but to prepare a progressive programme for the rebuilding of the tourism sector. However, he noted that the Ministry of Tourism and the State Ministry of Tourism have failed to implement such a programme so far. In such a situation, he said that certain parties, with the aim of fulfilling the Government's needs, are trying to spread a misconception that the tourism industry has collapsed due to these protests.  “We know very well that the people will no longer be fooled by such false claims. Therefore, we have to say that there will be more protests in the future. Either the Government should solve the problems of the people, or face the protests of the people. Instead of solving problems, there is no use in publicising wrong opinions through different parties. The HWC itself will take to the streets along with hotel workers in the future if we do not get solutions to these issues,” he added. Observing that there has been some improvement in the number of tourists visiting the country at present, The Hotel Association of Sri Lanka had recently told the media that it will not tolerate any protests that will eventually have a negative impact on the industry. The association had stated that if any protest is being carried out in an unruly manner, thereby causing inconveniences to the daily activities of the people and businesses, the authorities should take steps to prevent any escalation of such events. Given the Easter Sunday terror attacks in 2019, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the economic crisis prevailing at present, the tourism industry has suffered a severe setback, with the number of tourists visiting the country having drastically gone down over the past few years. The prevailing issues caused by the crisis situation such as the shortages of essential commodities including gas and fuel, and the lack of transportation facilities have further brought down tourist arrivals. The HWC had also organised a protest in Colombo recently demanding that the Government provide immediate solutions to the problems that have arisen in the tourism sector.


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