Queen’s Hotel Kandy closes public bar but alcohol available for guests

The grand Queen’s Hotel in Kandy, established in 1834 under British rule, this week closed its ages- old public bar as a mark of respect to the adjoining Dalada Maligawa but will continue to serve liquor to its guests.

Ranjan Peiris, Regional General Manager of The Kandy Hotels Company which owns the Queens, said their resident bar will be located at the first or second floor of the hotel to serve guests only. They could order drinks in the restaurants and in the room, he said, adding that they have also entered into agreements with foreign travel and tourism agents and the hotel has a legal obligation to serve the needs of their customers. At some stage the hotel will have to completely prohibit liquor in the future but there was no such decision as yet, he revealed. The hotel faces one of the main access roads leading to the Temple of the Sacred Tooth rel- ic. On Monday, the day President Mahinda Rajapaksa celebrated his 68th birthday in respect of the in veneration of Buddhists’ sacred shrine in the island, the bar was closed. The official noted that there was no pressure from the authorities but only a request to close the public bar which was almost 179 years old and it was mainly to honour the President's vision of respecting one of the most sacred sites in Sri Lanka.

Mr. Peiris said Chairman of the company Sanjeev Gardiner and the board of directors took the decision. The bar was set up by the British regime to serve planters and it became a public bar afterwards.

Any person was able to enter the bar without any restrictions and it was not only for the hotel guests, he said.

D.G.M.V. Hapuarachchi, Commissioner General of Excise Department, told the Business Times that the department has the right to order the closure of liquor bars located within the 500 metres limit for bars to be near places of religious worship and schools in accordance with the amendment to the excise ordinance made in 2003 . However the department cannot take any action against bars which have obtained licences prior to 2003 (over 10 years old), he added.

In the meantime, the Excise Department has collected a revenue of Rs. 31 billion during the first half of this year ffom 2800 liqour bars operating in the country, Mr. Hapuarachchi disclosed.