Pilot tourism project should be reconsidered - Godahewa

COLOMBO (News1st): The government should reconsider its pilot tourism project involving Ukrainian tourists as Ukraine has entered a lockdown, state minister Nalaka Godahewa has said. "In my view, the tourism minister and the relevant authorities should decide whether Sri Lanka should continue to bring more tourists from Ukraine," he told reporters on Saturday. Ukraine's nationwide lockdown that began on Thursday will remain closed until January 24. But Sri Lanka's tourism minister Prasanna Ranatunga denied that Ukraine has entered a nationwide lockdown, and insisted that the pilot project will continue until January 21. "Schools in Ukraine have been closed, and public gatherings have been banned in Ukraine. However, they have not entered a complete lockdown," Ranatunga told media. Opposition parliamentarian S.M. Marikkar pointed out that Ukraine - that has discovered at least five new strains of COVID-19 - has a high number of quarantine centres. "Ukraine is also the poorest country in Europe, burdened with debt, and is not economically stable," he observed.