Asia's largest Fisheries harbour in Hendela

Ridma Dissanayake

The construction of Asia's largest fisheries harbour established in Dikowita, Wattala has already been completed. President Mahinda Rajapaksa will open the Dikowita Fisheries Harbour on January 18. Fisheries and aquatic Resources Development Minister Rajitha Senaratne, participating in an inspection tour of the Dikowita Fisheries Harbour, said the harbour will help increase the catch due to efficient handling operations in the harbour.

The Dikowita Fisheries Harbour will provide a large number of direct and indirect job opportunities and attract local and foreign investments, he said.

The Dutch government funded EUR 53 million for the fisheries harbour and BAM International was awarded the contract to design and construct the fisheries harbour in Dikowita, about 10 kilometres north of Colombo.

The new fisheries harbour is built on an 8.1 hectare area. It has 11.7 hectares for the harbour basin. It is designed to handle a daily catch of 125 tons of fish per day.

The harbour has an administration building, auction building, fish processing units, six cool rooms, a net and glass fibre repair building, a general store with firefighting equipment, crew amenities, a canteen, fuel and water facilities and a slipway.

"The fisheries sector is Sri Lanka's third most important contributor to economic growth. It is second only to agriculture and tourism," the minister said.

"The fisheries industry will become the main contributor to the Sri Lankan economy within the next few years," he said.

"I hope to provide a 50 percent contribution to Sri Lanka's economy at the end of this year by doubling fish exports," Dr Senaratne said.