Tourism Minister requests President to exempt tourist zones from power cuts

Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga has called on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to exempt tourist zones from power cuts. 

The request was made by the Minister during the discussion on the power and fuel issues were taken up at the Cabinet of Ministers meeting held on Monday.

Minister Ranatunga has pointed out that the tourism industry could be hampered due to the power cuts at a time when the sector was just started to revive post-pandemic.

Noting that industry stakeholders has already lobbied in this regard, the Minister requested to at least exempt tourist hotspots from the power cut. 

Ministers Dr. Ramesh Pathirana, Bandula Gunawardena, Vasudeva Nanayakkara, Wimal Weerawansa and Mahinda Amaraweera have also expressed their support for this request.

State Minister of Power and Energy Duminda Dissanayake, who participated in the Cabinet meeting on behalf of Power Minister Gamini Lokuge, has agreed to take further action after discussing with the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) whether the tourist zones could be exempted as power cuts are carried out in four divided zones.

At present there are 16 tourist zones gazetted countrywide. These include; Nilaveli, Madugaga and the surrounding areas of Arugambay, Trincomalee, Kalkudah, Pinnawala, Dedduwa, Bentota, Kuchchaveli, Kalpitiya, Unawatuna, Negombo, Beruwala, Mount Lavinia, Yala and Ella.