The Hon. Thurairasa Ravikaran
Hon. Thurairasa Ravikaran raised concerns about illegal Indian trawling in northern waters, particularly during the prawn season, and said it was damaging the livelihoods of fishermen in Mullaitivu and Jaffna. He questioned the effectiveness of naval protection of maritime boundaries, cited fishermen’s concerns about enforcement, and urged fisheries authorities to protect northern fishermen without discrimination, including by empowering local fishermen if necessary. He also paid tribute to the late journalist and writer Na. Yogendranathan and congratulated Mullaitivu student athlete Jeyakanth Vidhusan for his performance at the South Asian Junior Athletics meet.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, I wish to raise the crisis of illegal trawling in the North. Sri Lanka is an island; the North and East are the Tamil homeland. Our seas have boundaries. The Navy must safeguard them. Yet Indian trawlers, especially during the prawn season (Margazhi–Masi), enter Mullaitivu and Jaffna waters, destroying livelihoods of thousands of our fishermen. Our fishermen suspect the Navy overlooks boundaries while focusing on “rollers” and other illegal gear of foreigners; even a derelict boat carrying Rohingya reached Mullivaikkal unnoticed. If the Navy cannot prevent incursions, equip our fishermen and entrust them to protect our seas. I call on the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources authorities to protect our northern fishermen without discrimination.
¶ 02 I also pay tribute to the late veteran journalist and writer Na. Yogendranathan, who passed away on 29 December.
¶ 03 Further, I congratulate Jeyakanth Vidhusan, a student of Muthaiahankattu Left‑Bank Government Tamil Mixed School, Mullaitivu, who, despite an injured leg and running barefoot, completed 3,000 metres at the recent South Asian Junior Athletics meet, bringing honour to the nation and the Vanni.
¶ 04 Thank you.
Provenance
- Source
- Hansard, Tuesday, 7 January 2025 ·No. 1736487038022510 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Thurairasa Ravikaran. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 7 January 2025. No. 1736487038022510. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/16070