Rooms for Sri Lanka Cricket officials at Fortress Hotel costs Rs. 5 million
2009-08-19 | 9.30 PM
The tournament organizing committee has booked 39 rooms at a cost of Rs. 16,000 per day at the Fortress Hotel in Koggala for the Sri Lanka Cricket officials who will be attending the first test match between Sri Lanka and New Zealand in Galle.
It is learnt that the rooms at the hotel belonging to Board of Investment (BoI) Chairman Dhammika Perera have been booked for six days.
It is also learnt that a sum of Rs. 5 million has been paid to this six start hotel in order to make a prior booking of the rooms.
Apart from this luxury hotel, the organizing committee members have also booked rooms at four star hotels in the area like the Unawatuna Beach Resort and the Weligama Mendera Hotel.
Sri Lanka Cricket also has to make a separate payment for the Lighthouse Hotel, where the Sri Lankan and New Zealand team members would be staying during the period of the match.
Reliable sources said Sri Lanka Cricket would incur a loss amounting to Rs. 100 million after the New Zealand tour while the institution has already incurred a Rs. 80 million loss from the Pakistan tour of Sri Lanka.
The Cricket Interim Committee has meanwhile told the media that 19 rooms have been booked at the luxury hotel for members of the International Cricket Council (ICC) to stay during the period of the match.
However, Lanka News Web has received reports that there are currently only 11 ICC members in Sri Lanka.
The cricket circles are now abuzz wondering for whom the remaining 28 rooms at the hotel have been reserved for.
Sources from the cricket circles said that Sports Minister Gamini Lokuge is hesitant to inquire in to the matter owning to the fact that 10 rooms booked by the committee will be allocated for him during the period of the match.
