Hotel management asked to explain

Tourism Minister Achala Jagoda on Tuesday summoned the Management of the Cinnamon Lake Hotel to his Ministry and demanded an explanation for letting 70 rooms of the Hotel to Sarath Fonseka and others who were planning a conspiracy on the night of the Presidential election.

He said after 30 years of war when Sri Lanka was the only country in the world which was free of conflict an incident of this nature could easily have had grave consequences to the country's tourist industry.The Minister had told the representatives of the Management that it should have acted with more responsibility to find out as to why such a large number of rooms were booked by Fonseka and the rest and bring this to the notice of Defence authorities particularly given the political climate that prevailed at the time.According to the information they received the group was preparing to cause mayhem bringing JVP supporters to Colombo to pull the country back to another dark era.

The Minister said had there been an incident such as a shooting inside the Hotel, the news that would have been splashed in the international media would be that it was an incident involving the hotel and thus create a wrong impression about Sri Lanka.

He also pointed out that at the time when a large number of rooms in the Hotel were occupied by foreigners any untoward incident could easily have spurred tourists residing in all Colombo Hotels to leave the country en masse. The Minister pointed out to the Management that they should have acted with more responsibility since it was their bounden duty to protect the good name of the country.

Meanwhile the Management said they had no knowledge about a conspiracy being planned inside the hotel premises and that those who booked the 70 rooms paid the money up front.They also expressed their regret that the incident took place in their hotel adding that several employees have been interdicted in this connection while a full scale investigation is being carried out.