Ukrainian tourists in Sri Lanka, as part of the Government’s pilot project to open the country’s airports for tourism, will be visiting several historical sites on Monday (04) & Tuesday (05), announced the Central Cultural Fund.

The tour group will visit the following sites in the Polonnaruwa Tourist Project controlled by the Central Cultural Fund and the sites will be close for locals from 01:00 PM on Monday.

– Parakrama Palace Complex
– Dalada Maluwa
– Siva Temple (02)
– Alaha Pirivena Complex
– Ronkoth Viharaya
– Lankathilake Viharaya
– Kirivehera
– Gal Viharaya
– Thiwanka Pilimageya
– Lotus Pond

On the 05th of January, the tour group will visit the Sigiriya Tourist Zone and it will closed for locals until 12 noon on that day.

The Ukrainian tour group will given a information booklet and a CD with vital information on the tourist sites, upon arrival to those areas, said the Central Cultural Fund.

The tour group is expected to visit Dambulla and Kandy in the following days.

According to the Central Cultural Fund the project is directly supervised by Minister Prasanna Ranatunga and measures have been taken to strictly follow the health guidelines to combat COVID-19, and the Ukrainian tour group will not be in contact with any local tourists during their visits to the aforementioned sites.

on Saturday (02), the Ukrainian tour group visited the seas off Mirissa and also engaged in a visit to the Yala National Park.

Officials had thereafter informed the Safari Jeep driver, who transported the Ukrainian tourists to undergo 14 days of quarantine following the conclusion of the Yala visit.

However, these drivers claimed they have been compelled to stay away from their families without being informed ahead of such a decision.

The drivers said they would not have undertaken the task of transporting the Ukrainian tourists, if they were aware of having to undergo quarantine following the tour.

Eventually, they were taken away for quarantine by the security forces.