Dambulla Economic Centre closed until further notice

The Dambulla Special Economic Centre will be closed until further notice, President of the Economic Centre's Traders' Association, Channa Arawwala said this afternoon (7). 

Mr Arawwala said the decision was taken after considering the health risks for farmers, traders and the general public by continuing to keep the centre open. 

He added that a large number of persons were coming to the centre on a daily basis and most were disregarding basic health and safety precautions laid out to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus. As such, he said the traders' association took the decision following lengthy discussions with Basil Rajapaksa, the head of the Government's Task Force on Essential Services and Minister Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government Janaka Bandara Tennakoon.  

The economic centre had been closed over the past three days but was due to open tomorrow (8). However, a decision to keep the centre closed was taken after observing the way people behaved after the curfew was lifted as well as the situation in other economic centres in the country, he further said. 

While the centre will remain closed, the traders' association president stressed that they will implement a mechanism whereby they can purchase produce directly from farmers and deliver it to consumers without making farmers come to the centre.

Text and Pix by Kanchana Kumara Ariyadasa