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Electric motor boats for fishermen from next year!

Published

2 years ago

December 2, 2022

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Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda said that steps will be taken to introduce electric motor boats for fishermen from next year due to the fuel shortage issue.

The minister expressed these views during the meeting of the Ministerial Consultative Committee on fisheries held in Parliament recently (29).

Accordingly, it is expected to introduce electric motor boats that can travel 100 kilometers using batteries and the cost is only Rs.86 per day to fishermen engaged in small fishing.

Minister Devananda also said that attention has also been paid for providing electricity generation facilities through solar panels and wind turbines for boats using kerosene and diesel.

State Minister of Fisheries Piyal Nishantha said that a special mobile service is being implemented successfully to solve the problems faced by the fishermen.

No canned fish imports without license

Meanwhile, the members drew the committee’s attention to the import of canned fish and the officials pointed out that no one has been allowed to import canned fish without a license.

Meanwhile, the need to encourage freshwater fishing to fulfil the protein requirements of the people was also discussed at the committee. For this purpose, the MPs requested to expand the programme of releasing fish fry into the reservoirs. The Minister informed that next year, a programme will be implemented to release fish fry to 2,500 selected fresh water reservoirs.

The members also drew the attention of the committee to the problems faced by fishermen in different parts of the country.

Deputy Speaker Ajith Rajapaksa, State Ministers Shantha Bandara, Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, MPs Vijitha Herath, Chandima Weerakkody, Dilip Vedaarachchi, Upul Mahendra Rajapaksa, Sudarshan Denipitiya, Rajika Wickremasingha, Sahan Pradeep Withana, S.M.M. Musharraf, Kulasingam Dhileeban and officials of the Ministry of Fisheries were also present at the meeting.

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Cost reflective price for MPs’ daily meals proposed

Published

2 hours ago

January 23, 2025

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Leader of the House Bimal Ratnayake said yesterday that a cost reflective price between Rs.2,500 and Rs.3,000 will be proposed for meals including breakfast, lunch and evening tea for Members of Parliament.

He stated that the proposal is scheduled to be presented to the House Keeping Committee of Parliament today and that a proposal will also be presented to the Cabinet in the future.

“MPs will have to pay Rs.3,000 for their meals including breakfast, lunch and evening tea. The price of meals for others will also be increased,” he added.

(dailynews.lk)

(This story, originally published by dailynews.lk has not been edited by SLM staff)

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Probe into clearing of 323 red-tagged containers – Dy. Minister

Published

2 hours ago

January 23, 2025

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Deputy Minister of Economic Development – Prof.Anil Jayantha Fernando yesterday (Jan. 22) admitted in Parliament that 323 containers with red tags have been released through the green channel by the Sri Lanka Customs.

In response to a question raised, the Deputy Minister said that an investigation will be launched into the incident.

He said there have been occasions where red-tagged containers have been released after being scanned and during some occasions, containers had been released through the green channel even without being scanned.

“We never know whether there have been investigations into those incidents,” he said.

(Excerpts : dailynews.lk)

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Suspect arrested over alleged online train tickets racket

Published

3 hours ago

January 23, 2025

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The Kandy Divisional Crimes Unit has arrested a 37-year-old suspect involved in an alleged major racket involving ‘e-Tickets’ sold for up-country trains including to Ella.

According to the police, the suspect was arrested yesterday (Jan. 22) in the Suduhumpola area of the Kandy Police Division.

The suspect, a resident of the same area, was found in possession of 21 ‘Odyssey’ train tickets purchased online, Rs. 130,670 in cash believed to be proceeds from the illegal sales, 130 notepads documenting previous transactions, and a mobile phone.

Police suspect the individual profited from reselling train tickets, targeting foreign tourists. The suspect has been handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for further inquiries.

On January 20, the CID had informed the Colombo Magistrate’s Court that they have launched an investigation into the ticket scalping, which was raising serious concerns.

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