General Shavendra Silva, Commander of the Army and Head of the National Operations Center for the Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak (NOCPCO) has instructed hotel owners involved in quarantine activities not to allow any third party to illegally obtain money when directing arrivals from overseas to quarantine at their hotels.
“No any outside ‘third party’ if any, reaching you for accommodation of foreign arrivals in your hotels for quarantine purposes, should be given a single cent to get such openings as we have already managed to prevent some ‘unscrupulous’ elements who were resorting to such corrupt practices in the recent past after the 2nd wave broke out,” General Silva said.
“We would not dare to tolerate such practices at the expense of the Army image since ours is a credible organization of the highest standards. What we want is to get those arrivals a fair deal with decent meals, full care and accommodation at the lowest rate possible,” General Shavendra Silva told the hotel owners, hoteliers and hotel executives at a meeting with them on Tuesday, January 12.
The Army Commander also said that after the spread of the second wave of the COVID-19 virus, operations were launched to arrest those involved in such fraudulent activities.
General Shavendra Silva said there had been instances where ‘interested parties’ had approached hoteliers in the past, but there is no room, now left for any of those practices in their trade.
The Army Commander has requested that such attempts should be immediately brought to the notice of the Army.
“What we expect from you is the provision of decent meals and proper accommodation at reasonable rates to those checking in for quarantining. If you all can further bring down those rates, it is so much the better and I believe small hotels below 5-star level could certainly go for such reductions,” he advised.
