Three hundred fishermen of Mullativu, one of the most backward districts in Sri Lanka and where the civil war came to an end in a brutal way, will get 150 boats and fishing equipment.
The boats and the equipment will be “gifts” of the Indian government, which will spend SLR 100 million. A memorandum of understanding to this effect was signed by Y.K. Sinha, High Commissioner of India, and W.M.M.R. Adikari, Secretary, Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development, in the presence of Mahinda Amaraweera, Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.
Barely 1.8 p.c. of fish output
Mullativu, which has 3,150 active fishers, accounts for barely 1.8 per cent of the country’s fish production of about 5.35 lakh tones. It has around 6,230 operating fishing boats, which is equivalent to 11.5 per cent of the total in the country, according to the Ministry.
