By Dinithi Gunasekera
Following countless months of a prolonged halt to tourism, the key player in Sri Lanka’s economy, Sri Lanka welcomed its first foreign tourists – 185 Ukrainians on 28 December 2020 – amidst some raised eyebrows and the steady growth of Covid’s second wave in the island.
Prompted by major concerns over the complete collapse of the country’s hospitality industry, the Ukrainian chartered flights were an act of easing the pressure on the heavily tourism-reliant economy. Over 500 Ukrainians have thus far arrived (as of 4 January) and nine more services bringing 200 tourists each are expected until 24 January.
Recent media reports of an uproar among the jeep drivers and tour guides, who assisted the Ukrainian tourists under the pilot project in touring the Yala National Park and were promptly instructed to be quarantined for 14 days, also shed light on the alleged lack of proper execution of the pilot project.
Safari jeep drivers speak up
The Sunday Morning Brunch reached out to Independent Jeep Drivers’ Association Yala President P.D. Keerthi for a review of the incident that caused concern. According to him, 28 jeeps were assigned to escort the tourists via political involvement. He also alleged that the quarantine procedure that the drivers would be subjected to was purposefully concealed with the assumption that it would discourage the drivers from taking up the assigned trips. The drivers were to be quarantined in a far off place, he said, but after the intervention of the jeep driver associations, they are currently quarantined at Hotel Lakepin, Tissamaharama.
Yala Jeep Owners’ Association President Ajith Priyantha echoed Keerthi’s sentiments, that the job should ideally have been equally distributed among the three main safari jeep associations in Yala.
“If you are attempting to kickstart the struggling tourism economy again, it has to be done fairly and systematically,” he said.
“We were met with a payment of only Rs. 5,000 per jeep, out of which the driver would only receive Rs. 700,” revealed Keerthi. He expressed that for these drivers, being quarantined for 14 days with no livelihood is the biggest issue. For 10-12 months, they have been suffering with no mode of steady flow of income; with the situation at hand, they are facing a double burden.
“According to the observations of our drivers, many of these tourists were not even wearing masks,” explained Keerthi.
“If we were informed earlier that the health status of the tourists was not 100% secure and that we would have to be quarantined post-trip, the situation would be different. If that was the case, more safety measures would have been deployed from our side in the very least and the drivers themselves would not suddenly find themselves in a difficult situation financially.”
Media Secretary to the Minister of Tourism and Aviation Prasanna Ranatunga, Pradeep Anura Kumara, speaking to The Sunday Morning Brunch shared that a last-minute delay in the final health guideline confirmation process was what resulted in the drawbacks in the project deployed at Yala. “The tourist operators were unaware of the guidelines at the time of the trip deployment and therefore, had not informed us, and in turn, the drivers were not informed of a quarantine procedure. The co-ordination between the relevant bodies was lacking due to the last-minute delays.”
He assured us that the relevant organisations were advised with immediate effect to make efforts to better communicate with the relevant authorities, and it can be assured that the situation of these projects would be far better in collaboration with more tour organisations and foreign countries after 21 January 2021, with the reopening of Katunayake.
Anura Kumara further shared that the direct and indirect dependents of the local tourism industry accounts for 3 million. The biggest problem for this population was the shutdown of airports starting from the 19 March, 2020. “In addition to removing registration fees required, we organised relief programmes such as relief for electricity and water bills, loan benefits, grace periods for leases for these individuals. On a personal note, we provided jeep drivers relief of Rs. 15,000 and Rs. 20,000 for tour guides. However, it was not sufficient to cover all needs thoroughly.”
According to Anura Kumara, the plan for rebuilding Sri Lanka’s tourism was devised in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), the Ministry of Health, the Covid Task Force, and other relevant health authorities. “The framework for this pilot project is a product of continuous discussion and numerous necessary amendments to proposed health guidelines. Three tour institutions, namely Exotic Holidays, Ceylon My Dream, and The Look voluntarily took part in this pilot project.”
He explained that the tourists are required to undergo two PCR tests, 72 hours before travelling to Sri Lanka and before checking into their relevant hotel rooms. “It was through this procedure the three Covid-19 positive tourists were identified and sent to the Kotelawala Defence University premises for treatment. Additionally, there is a detailed mechanism of allocating 50 hotel rooms in the place of 25 for emergency isolation scenarios.”
“There is a false preconception amongst the general public that these Ukrainian tourists are in quarantine. It is false. They are within the Covid bubble but not in quarantine and there is a difference.”
Tourism dependents suffer
According to the SLTDA, wildlife parks earned a combined revenue of Rs. 2.14 billion ($ 11.3 million) in 2018, accounting for 17% of total tourism receipts. Data suggests that 47% of all foreign visitors to the island also visited a national park in 2018, of which Yala National Park is the most renowned.
The country’s parks have been closed to the public since March 2020, thereby adversely affecting the dependents of the Sri Lankan tourism industry, such as tour guides, hoteliers, and jeep drivers. As of 2020, more than 700 safari jeeps actively offer tours inside the Yala National Park. Most are financed through leasing facilities, leaving the owners struggling to pay dues.
“After the authorities showed signs of rebooting the collapsed tourism industry, we were in high spirits. The struggling drivers saw a future for themselves. However, instead, they were met with a sizable team of army officials who brought with them the news of the sudden quarantine procedures,” shared Priyantha, speaking on behalf of the association he represents.
“They were breadwinners of their households who were expecting to get back to their families in the evening, not to be carried off and dumped in an unknown, rundown place unaware. It’s like they were arrested. We do not know what the conditions and the immediate needs of their families are; if they are in a condition to get by without the daily wage,” he expressed.
Upholding the safari jeep excursion industry: A no-show?
Due to the collapse of the tourism industry locally and internationally, many drivers have either temporarily stopped working as safari jeep drivers or have completely resigned, according to Priyantha and Keerthi.
Priyantha affirmed that the employees that work with them are well-trained, experienced drivers who have qualified under the training of the SLTDA and National Tourist Guide Training Programme and they have ample knowledge on many aspects of wildlife, such as birdwatching, etc. With the ongoing situation, it is becoming increasingly difficult to retain such well-oiled personnel within the sector.
“We have been tending to the needs of these drivers who have lost their livelihoods, to the best of our abilities since March 2020,” Priyantha explained. “With the circumstances, most of them have gone in search of other occupations such as permanent driving jobs, fishing, and other manual labour-based work. Now within our stalls, we have very limited personnel. A person with 10 jeeps has only enough personnel to run three jeeps regularly.”
So far, 200 jeeps have reportedly been sold just within the Yala premises. Some have handed over these jeeps to the relevant leasing companies as they are unable to pay the dues, and others have permanently left the industry for more stable sources of income.
If the industry loses such experienced and qualified people at the brink of the new normal, it not only adversely affects the protection of wildlife but also the safety of the people from potential threats of wildlife.
From the side of the Government, there has thus far been no assistance or efforts made to retain these drivers systematically and no allowances or benefits have been offered, according to the associations’ office bearers.
Rebooting the economy: At what cost?
“How can we continue to be the drivers of the tourism industry at the brink of this new normal if our employees are constantly quarantined or, even worse, not guaranteed with safety reassurance?,” questioned Priyantha, adding: “They are risking their lives.”
According to him, there is notable reluctance and a complete drop of locals at the Yala premises post the Ukranian tourist arrival. This has been supposedly exacerbated by a video on social media that includes an individual who is berating the Ukrainians who “dismantled the beauty of Tissamaharama”, which has further discouraged local visits.
This observed phenomenon is a short-term and potentially long-term threat to the local leisure industry. It seems the attempts to strengthen the international tourism industry may inevitably be cancelled out in the face of seemingly reckless measures.
The best of both worlds: How?
The opinion of the office bearers of the jeep driver associations was that the methodology of the project that is being carried out is highly inapt, given the seriousness of the situation.
Former Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) Director General Dr. Sumith Pilapitiya, speaking to The Sunday Morning Brunch, stressed on the need for a detailed plan in carrying out such a project.
“Even the SLTDA was not involved in implementing this activity, as the Chairperson’s letter to the Minister clearly stated. The first lesson from this episode is that when such a programme is undertaken, experts have to be involved in the planning process,” Dr. Pilapitiya said.
“Secondly, it should be done in such a way that the safari jeep drivers don’t have to be quarantined for 14 days after just one three-hour trip into the park, as we need to consider their livelihood while making sure not to compromise on public health and Covid guidelines.”
While humbly admitting that he is “no expert in planning such a programme”, Dr. Pilapitiya shared a basic outline, within the span of his knowledge, to be considered.
“There are over 1,000 safari jeeps providing safari services to visitors. Over 90% of these vehicles are single cabs, with a modified, open rear area for passengers. This means that the driver is separated by a glass partition from the passengers seated in the rear open area of the vehicle. Many of these vehicles have modified the glass partition so that there is a sliding window so that the driver could open the glass partition to speak to the passengers in the rear. Alas, among the 1,000-plus safari vehicles, about 50-100 safari jeeps have a glass partition that is not openable.
“In my view, the first criterion for selecting a safari vehicle for these foreign tourists should be the un-openable glass partition separating the driver from the passengers.”
He repeated that the first selection criteria should be free from political connections or friendships. The tour organiser should arrange for the purchase of the entrance tickets without the drivers’ involvement.
“There are two locations that people are permitted to disembark from the vehicle in Yala National Park, but for these tours, disembarkation should not be permitted – if it is a three-hour safari, I am sure that this is possible, as long as the passengers are informed prior to starting the safari, that there will be no rest stops for three hours. In this manner, it is possible to keep the driver and the passengers from interacting,” he elaborated.
Accounting to Dr. Pilapitiya, 75% of the drivers are not adequately knowledgeable in the interpretation of wildlife behaviour, although there are some knowledgeable enough to interpret wildlife behaviour and may want to interact with passengers. If Sri Lanka Tourism wants to promote tourism under the current Covid conditions, the involved authorities should make efforts to connect the two parties via devices such as walkie-talkies.
“However, I would like to emphasise that this is my opinion and I have no public health expertise, so consultation of a public health expert by the organising authorities is crucial if such measures are to be taken into account,” concluded the wildlife expert and enthusiast, reinstating the importance of multiple stakeholder consultation towards better decision-making.
