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| Thursday, 30 December 2004 |
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Lankans may lose jobs following Maldives Tsunami disaster by Shirajiv Sirimane Over 20 resort hotels in the Maldives have been temporarily closed following the damage due to Sunday's tidal wave (Tsunami) and some Sri Lankans working there may lose their jobs. A spokesman for the Maldivian Embassy said that so far six tourists have been killed and 21 resorts have been closed. "It would take around two to three months for some of these resorts to reopen," he said. There are 81 resorts in the Maldives where around 8,000 are employed of which about 30 percent are Sri Lankan expatriates. "Some waiters, room boys, guest relations officers and the kitchen staff are likely to lose their employment due to refurbishment," he said. However, this would only be a temporary setback since the Maldivian hotel sector is keen on the experienced Sri Lankan workforce. "Hotels are expected to resume operations in two or three months and then the Sri Lankans would be called back," he said. According to the Councillor for the Maldivian Democratic Party, Mohamed Nasheed over 17,000 tourists were being evacuated as the air links have been resumed. SriLankan has resumed flights to Male. He said that the general elections which were scheduled for December 31 too have been rescheduled for Saturday January 22, as the economic damage especially to the tourist and fisheries sector was high. He said that land of all the resorts is being leased by the government and some resorts are not insured against natural disasters. "These resorts will take a longer time to reopen," he said. The spokesman for the Maldivian Democratic Party, Mohamed Latheff said that one disappointing factor in Male is that the government is not encouraging any private organisation to help in the refurbishment process. "The government wants every thing to be channelled through them and this can lead to many problems and delays," he said. He said that the foreign aid could also be used by government for election propaganda. Amidst the scenes of chaos in the country the British Foreign and Commonwealth office has warned foreigners against travel to the Maldives. With the number of tourist arrivals to the Maldives and Sri Lanka being low the industry in both countries would take time to recover. |
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