RIYADH, 15 April 2006 — Sri Lankan expatriates in the Kingdom welcomed their government’s decision to revert back its clocks by 30 minutes from Friday midnight to coincide with the country’s New Year celebrations throughout the country. The GMT+05 hours and 30 minutes was prevalent since Jan. 16, 1942 to midnight of May 24, 1996.
“The new timings will help us reach Colombo half an hour early. This would help passengers from the Kingdom to pass through Colombo without getting into the morning traffic jams that keep us on the road for hours,” Mohamed Ali said.
“We call our friends and relatives in Sri Lanka during the off-peak hours between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m . The new time will ensure that our friends and relatives back home are available to receive our calls,” Mohammed Ansar said.
A Lankan businessman said the new time would give an additional half an hour for those who transact business with Colombo since most of the establishments open here at 8.30 in the morning.
Sri Lankan Airlines Manager for Central Province, Fawzan Fareed said the government’s decision to turn the clock back by 30 minutes, will only have an impact on SriLankan Airlines operations into and out of Colombo. Departure and arrival times of flights into and out of Colombo will advance by half and hour with effect from April 15th. All SriLankan Airlines flight times into and out of its overseas destinations will remain unchanged.