SAARC BRINGS HOLIDAYS (98 Jul 29)
The SAARC summit, which begins in Kolomba on Wednesday has brought few holidays to the public and private sector employees. Wednesday the twenty ninth has been declared a holiday for those who work in The Kolomba municipal area while the thirtieth is a holiday for most of the people.
The reason for these holidays is the presence of the SAARC leaders in Kolomba. On Wednesday they have to travel to the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall from the Taj Samudra Hotel for the inaugural meeting of the summit. As the roads they travel on that day are to be closed for the public for two hours each in the morning and the afternoon, those who work in places within the Kolomba city limits have been given a holiday.
On Thursday the VIPs are travelling to Bentara. As such the Kolomba-Galla road will be closed on Thursday and there will be no work in most places on that day. As a result of Wednesday and Thursday being declared holidays many people who work in the Kolomba city have already gone to their villages and will not be coming for work on Friday. With the weekend they will get five holidays at a stretch thanks to the SAARC summit.
The SAARC leaders while in Sri Lanka will not see people on the roads while they travel. Some of them, especially those who are on their first visit to the country might go back with the impression that the population density of the country is very small!