Riots a heavy blow to tourism, economy: Sri Lanka PM
- Riots a heavy blow to tourism, economy: Sri Lanka PM
- COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's prime minister said Thursday that a spate of anti-Muslim riots had damaged the island's reputation as a tourism hotspot as it prepares to host an international cricket tournament.
- Rioting has left three dead and more than 200 Muslim-owned establishments in ruins in Kandy, a picturesque hill district famed for its tea plantations and Buddhist icons.
- The government imposed a state of emergency - the first in its post-war history - and deployed hundreds of soldiers to Kandy as authorities struggled to restore order.
- Holidaymakers have been urged to avoid the hill resort, which is also home to Sri Lanka's holiest Buddhist shrine, the Temple of the Tooth Relic.
- Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said images of Muslim businesses being torched and police firing teargas had dented Sri Lanka's hard-fought efforts to rebrand after decades of civil war.
- "The work of a handful of saboteurs has caused a heavy blow to the country both economically and socially," he said in a statement.
- Curfews in Kandy - which attracts millions of tourists and pilgrims every year - had "greatly inconvenienced" visitors to the central hill district, he added.
- The Kandy riots, and isolated incidents of arson and vandalism in other parts of Sri Lanka, coincide with the island hosting a tri-nation cricket series against India and Bangladesh.
- The tournament began Tuesday in Colombo, 115 kilometres from Kandy, but authorities were taking no chances with 1,000 police deployed to protect the visiting teams and spectators.
- A group of Sinhalese and Muslim activists demonstrated against the riots outside the main railway station in Colombo, but the protest action was peaceful.
- Tourism has emerged as a key earner for the island in the aftermath of the war, which cost more than 100,000 civilian lives before its bloody close after nearly four decades of fighting.
- Visitor arrivals have increased steadily since then, with Sri Lanka attracting more than 2.1 million tourists and $3.2 billion in foreign exchange last year alone.
- Just half a million tourists ventured to Sri Lanka in 2009 when the war ended - roughly the same number who visited in the first two months of this year, show the latest figures from the island's tourism board.
- The chief custodian of the Temple of the Tooth Relic in Kandy said visitor numbers had increased Thursday as a daytime curfew imposed to maintain order was lifted.
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