The owners of the 150-room Citrus Waskaduwa have offered the resort to be used as a quarantine centre by the National Operations Centre to Prevent COVID-19 on a temporary basis, should the need arise.
The Board of Directors of the public listed Waskaduwa Beach Resort Plc said on Saturday it took this decision considering the current crisis faced by the nation and the world at large.
It said due to the time sensitivity and the fact that the Colombo stock market was currently closed, the Citrus Waskaduwa Board decided to immediately communicate the same to the National Operations Centre to Prevent COVID-19 headed by Army Commander Lt. Gen. Shavendra Silva, while a market announcement will be made on Monday 23 March.
Citrus said in the event the authorities decide to use the resort temporarily, it would be completely decontaminated in keeping with international standards before normal resort operations commence.
The Board said that the occupancies of the hotels in the Citrus Group had dropped to a bare minimum and considering the global and local travel restrictions, they would continue to drop further in the near future.
Given the devastating impact faced by the tourism sector, the Board commended the valiant efforts made by the Government, the Health Sector and the Security Forces to control this situation in the country.
The Board said the decision to offer the resort was after taking these into consideration and in keeping with the Group’s nation-mindedness ethos.