The Hon. M.S. Uthumalebbe
M.S. Uthumalebbe raised the case of four Point Pedro fishermen who, after departing with Coast Guard clearance on 07.07.2024, suffered engine failure, drifted at sea, and were ultimately rescued by Indian fishermen before returning after 194 days. He noted that local fishermen’s representatives had alerted Fisheries officials and offered to cover fuel costs for a search, and that over Rs. 300,000 was later spent to bring the fishermen back from India. He asked whether the Government would establish a special immediate rescue protocol for fishermen who go missing or face natural disasters at sea.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Mr. Speaker, my second supplementary:
¶ 02 These four fishermen departed from Point Pedro on 07.07.2024 after Coast Guard inspection and with due permission. Due to engine failure they drifted 16 kilometres. Representatives of the fishermen’s association under the Point Pedro Subramadam GN Division informed Fisheries officials: “Search for the fishermen drifting 16 kilometres; if fuel costs are needed, we will provide.” They were not found and only then were they rescued by Indian fishermen and returned after 194 days. In this modern era, the new Government is bringing new plans. Over Rs. 300,000 was spent to bring them back safely from India. The lives of fishermen are paramount. Can a special, immediate rescue protocol be created to safeguard fishermen who go missing or face natural disasters at sea?
Provenance
- Source
- Hansard, Tuesday, 23 September 2025 ·No. 1758876121024768 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
- Page · column
- not yet extracted — page/column anchors are not in the current dataset; the source PDF is the citable location.
- Permalink
/lk/speeches/15512
Cite as: The Hon. M.S. Uthumalebbe. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 23 September 2025. No. 1758876121024768. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/15512