Rip off at Dambulla
Cricket Grounds
My Britihs friends and myself booked into a
hotel in Dambulla and proceeded to the Dambulla Cricket grounds
to watch the first ODI between Sri Lanka and England with great
enthusiasm and high spirits hoping to enjoy the day. We had
already purchased the AC Box seats priced at Rs. 3000/-
We had previously enjoyed watching matches in
Sri Lanka even though there were some shortcomings on every
occasion. However the Dambulla episode was the worst we have
experienced.
First we were not allowed to take our vehicle
inside. Hence we had to park it outside to a self-made parking
warden and pay a heavy parking fee. Then we have to walk the
long distance to the pavilion. At the gate some security
personnel refused to let us in as we were carrying cigarettes.
We overcame this by promising him not to smoke. Then climbing
those three or four flights of steps to the box seats really
made us exhausted.
Now all what we wanted was to sit and enjoy the
match with a cool glass of beer in our hands. This was not to be
so and to our great disappointment, especially for my British
friends we were told that no Beer was allowed. To add to this
misery very soon we found the air condition system was not
working properly. The irony was that there was no responsible
person to complain about.
A while later, we needed some food. We had the
money, but we had to only chose from Keels hot dogs, coca-cola
or Dilmah tea. One of my friends is a diabetic and needs to
drink only water.
The monopoly enjoyed by these companies were
much to our disappointment of many spectators.
This was absurd.
When even the basic facilities are denied,
spectators are forced to watch the game on TV.
During the dinner break, we were so hungry and
with a lot of hope went to the canteen to have a meal, but we
were told that the meals were only to for media personnel. The
organizers must be thinking that only media people eat and
drink.
I wish the authorities will discuss these issues
with relavent government officials and stop the rip-off.
The organizers will blame the government for
curtailing things, but it’s the same government that needs
tourists to come to island.
Nalaka Perera
Negombo
