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.
Two air passengers attempting to smuggle gold worth Rs. 210 million concealed among vehicle spare parts, were arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) yesterday (May 15).
The suspects, a 26-year-old from Grandpass, Colombo, and a 46-year-old from Rambukwella, Kandy, had arrived from Dubai on Emirates flight EK-650 at 8:30 am.
Both individuals are believed to be couriers operating on behalf of local businessmen, frequently transporting goods from abroad.
Leader of the National Freedom Front (NFF) – Wimal Weerawansa has stated that while it took 76 years for the price of a salt packet to reach Rs.60, the current government managed to raise the price to Rs. 400 within just seven months.
He made these remarks yesterday (May 15) during a media briefing held at the NFF headquarters in Colombo.
Weerawansa heavily criticized the current government, saying that although it operates under the banner of a so-called “renaissance”, it is in fact a government that fails to take any meaningful decisions.
“It took 76 years for a packet of salt to cost Rs.60. However, within 07 months, this government had raised the price to Rs.350 – Rs.400. This is the drama of the so-called renaissance.”
He also ridiculed the government’s narrative that the salt shortage is somehow part of a shift toward healthy eating habits.
Weerawansa emphasized that the current crisis reflects the government’s incompetence and insensitivity to the grave economic hardships faced by the people.
No salt produced this year – Lanka Salt Chairman
Meanwhile, Chairman of Lanka Salt Ltd. – Mr. D. Nandana Thilaka has stated no salt has been produced this year due to continuous adverse weather and rainfall.
He said that this adverse weather conditions has affected not only Hambantota but many other salt producing areas including Elephant Pass.
He further explained that in 2024, the company had planned to produce 125,000 MT of salt, but adverse weather conditions only allowed for the production of 40,000 MT.
Usually, salt harvesting starts in March every year, but the poor weather conditions have hindered this, according to the chairman.
While there has been a shortage of salt crystals in the market, table salt stocks remain unaffected, he clarified.
He further stated that Lanka Salt Ltd. had issued 100,000 packets of 400g table salt to Lanka Sathosa on May 14, and another 100,000 packets were to be issued yesterday (May 15).
The National Fertilizer Secretariat has launched an islandwide investigation to identify and remove substandard fertilizer from the local market.
The probe is being carried out through district Assistant Directors islandwide.
Director of the secretariat – Mr. Chandana Lokuhewage states that the investigation commenced following the recent raid of substandard fertilizer in the Polonnaruwa area.
Police had seized 1,565 bags of urea fertilizer during the raid in Siripura, Polonnaruwa.
Samples from the seized stock are to be sent to Colombo for laboratory testing, Lokuge confirmed.
12 suspects arrested in this regard have been remanded until May 28 after they were produced before the Dehiattakandiya Magistrate’s Court.
