Free kerosene for fishing boats

Puttalam Group Corr

Every one day fishing boat which went out to sea from the Chilaw beach and surrounding areas on Monday was issued 30 litres of kerosene oil free of charge as a gesture of goodwill for ending the fishermen's lay off in protest at the oil price hike, said Wayamba Provincial Fisheries Minister Sanath Nishantha Perera.

This was in addition to the fuel subsidy paid by the government to offset the fuel price hike, he said.

Meanwhile, Puttalam District Secretary Kingsley Fernando said initial steps have been taken to offer the fuel subsidy to fishermen in the Puttalam district. Under this programme a subsidy of Rs 12 is offered for each litre of diesel and a subsidy of Rs 25 for each litre of kerosene oil. All divisional secretaries have been circularized to implement this subsidy scheme immediately according to the recommendations of the respective grama niladharis and fishermen's union representatives and the supervision of Samurdhi Development officers.