13 October 2020 09:06 am
A request made by a private company to repatriate some 2,000 Sri Lankans in the Middle East to Sri Lanka using a ship with hospital facilities has been turned down by the Task Force of the National Operation Centre for Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak (NOCPCO) due to high costs involved in the operation, informed sources said.
On September 2, the particular company in a letter to the President had informed that it was ready to repatriate 2,000 Sri Lankans in the Middle East using a ship with hospital facilities that could quarantine them after harbouring at the Hambantota Port. They said the entire operation would take one month. It also requested the government to pay them some USD 2 million (approximately Rs. 380 million) for the entire operation, it is learnt.
However at the Task Force on Covid-19 meeting it was revealed that 2,000 Sri Lankans could be brought back to Sri Lanka by air and other modes at a total cost of around Rs. 180 million.
Later, the Task Force decided not to approve the proposal, sources further added. (Sunil Jayasiri)