The Hon. Ramalingam Chandrasekar - Minister of Fisheries, Aquatic and Ocean Resources

¶ 01 Mr. Speaker, the answers are as follows:

¶ 02 (a) (i) As per the statements obtained on 17.03.2025 at the Jaffna District Fisheries Office from the boat owner and the skipper, the fishermen H.I. Mustakeen, N. Gunapalasingam, A. Radhakrishnan and Premasiri, who departed for fishing on 07.07.2024 from the Point Pedro (Vetrilai Kenikkadal) fisheries harbour on the fishing boat registered as J-A-0184 KMN belonging to Mr. S. Amirthalingam of Inpasitty, Point Pedro, were swept away by strong winds and went missing. After 29 days they were rescued by Indian fishermen, remained with them for 9 days, were then taken by the Indian Navy and placed under police custody in Chennai for 3 months and 10 days, subsequently imprisoned in Trichy for 4 months and 13 days, and thereafter brought back to Chennai, detained for a further 13 days and finally repatriated to Sri Lanka by air.

¶ 03 (ii) Action was taken to bring the said four fishermen back to Sri Lanka on 25.02.2025 through the intervention of the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources. For this, the Department incurred an expenditure of Rs. 344,424. If required, the NIC numbers of the persons concerned can be provided.

¶ 04 (iii) No compensation was paid to these fishermen.

¶ 05 (b) Compensation by the Government is paid in cases where fishermen die due to natural disasters while engaged in fishing. In such an event, Rs. 1,000,000 is paid to the dependants of the deceased fisherman.

¶ 06 Additionally, two insurance schemes for fishermen are in operation through Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation and the Agricultural and Agrarian Insurance Board. Under these, depending on the plan to which a fisherman has contributed, benefits of Rs. 1 million, Rs. 1.5 million, or Rs. 2 million are available in the event of accidental death.

¶ 07 Further, in cases where fishermen die due to incidents involving collisions with foreign naval vessels while fishing, upon verification of facts, efforts are made to obtain compensation from the relevant shipping company. However, since these four fishermen were safely repatriated to Sri Lanka, there is no necessity to pay compensation.

¶ 08 Action: Not applicable.

¶ 09 As stated above, compensation is provided under three avenues. As all four fishermen have been safely repatriated without harm, no compensation has been paid.