Plans afoot to bring tourists to SL in isolation from locals: Army Chief

President instructs repatriation of more SL migrant workers as well

Daily repatriation of stranded Lankans to commence next Sunday  

By Sheain Fernandopulle  

An effective mechanism is to be introduced to ensure that Covid -19 would not be transmitted from foreigners arriving in Sri Lanka to people living in the country, Army Commander General Shavendra Silva said.  
Speaking to journalists, he said the recent decision to allow foreigners to visit Sri Lanka from last December 26 was an experiment and a pilot project.  

“We hope this move would show some positive signs to bring more tourists to Sri Lanka as it vastly facilitates the tourism industry in Sri Lanka,”.  

“Nearly two million people, who depend on tourism, have been in a dire situation for the last eight months in terms of earning sufficient income. Hence, we are of the view that bringing tourists to Sri Lanka under a proper mechanism would boost the tourism industry,” the Army Commander underlined.  

Meanwhile, he said they were also keen on repatriating more Sri Lanka migrant workers and stranded Lankans to the country as instructed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.   

“We have informed the Foreign Ministry that the capacity of bringing Sri Lanka migrant workers and stranded Sri Lankans would be expanded,” he said.  

“Accordingly, more stranded Lankans would be brought to Sri Lanka on a daily basis from next Sunday (10),” Army Commander added.