Programs to revive fisheries sector

Chamikara Weerasinghe

The Fisheries Ministry has launched several programs in Jaffna and Matara to benefit fishermen for the promotion of the industry in the Northeast and the South on a firm footing with the Government targeting to strengthen its domestic economy by building a production base for export promotion and import substitution by primarily developing its fisheries sector with the recovery of fisheries in the North and East after the end of terrorism.

Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne said the Ministry will import 90 multi-day boats within the next two months to increase the production base for fish exports.

Dr. Senaratne said the Ministry with the Bank of Ceylon has introduced a loan scheme for Jaffna fishermen to prepare and organize their livelihoods that have been destroyed by terrorism for over three decades.

Loans worth Rs 55 million will be given to Jaffna fishermen to organize their fishing gear under the first phase of the loan scheme.

The Bank of Ceylon has given loans upto Rs 20 million among 200 fishermen in Jaffna, Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi to restart their traditional fishing.

The Minister also said the Ministry will start the Cey-nor boat factory in Karainagar which has become defunct after the terrorists destroyed it in 1986.

He said the Fisheries Ministry will introduce a pension and an insurance scheme for all fishermen.

."The country needs to reach a growth rate of 10 percent by 2015 in which prime movers will be Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Ministry, Agriculture Ministry and Economic Development Ministry," he said.