roadBlockAd
brand logo

Hotel workers’ union slams Harin

01 Jul 2022

  • Claims Minister working for personal gain, not developing tourism by consulting; says small-, medium-, star-class hotels on verge of closure, 600,000 job losses; commences islandwide protests    
  BY Buddhika Samaraweera   Claiming that Minister of Tourism Harin Fernando has taken over the said ministerial post for his personal gain, the Hotel Workers’ Centre (HWC) of the Inter-Company Employees’ Union alleged that the former has not yet implemented any programme for the development of the tourism sector, which has currently seen a decline. Speaking to The Morning yesterday (30 June), HWC National Organiser Jayathilaka Ranasinghe said: “No one even knows that there is a Tourism Minister. Fernando took over a Ministry for his personal gain and destroyed the powerful referendum that was being formed against the present Government. Now, he seems to not hear the voices of the people. He has not prepared any programme to develop the tourism sector in particular. He has not consulted with the trade unions or other parties with experience in the tourism industry, at the very least.” He said that the tourism sector, which could directly generate US dollar revenue for the country, has almost completely collapsed in the face of the prevailing crisis. He said that it is not only small- and medium-scale hotels and other tourist service providers who are now on the verge of closing down, but also large-scale, star-class hotels. “Tourism depends on transportation, food and beverages, and electricity, but at the moment, there is no fuel, gas, and electricity. So how can the Government develop the tourism sector and increase the country’s dollar income when the tourism industry does not have all the basic facilities it needs? If the Government solves these issues and tells the tourists that they would be provided with all the facilities, they would definitely visit our country. However, what the Government is doing is merely telling stories," he added. He further added that the total downturn in the tourism sector has led to the loss of employment for nearly 600,000 workers, including 200,000 direct workers and 400,000 indirect workers. In addition, he claimed that the collapse had cost the country millions of dollars in annual revenue. Meanwhile, the HWC had organised a protest in front of several Colombo hotels yesterday, demanding that the Government provide immediate solutions to the problems that have arisen in the tourism sector. Ranasinghe said that a series of such protests would be held islandwide until the issues are resolved.


More News..