The Hon. Rohitha Abeygunawardhana

¶ 01 Hon. Chairman, before speaking on the Fisheries Ministry’s Head, I recall the now-President’s campaign promises to fishers. He said he asked a multi-day fisher how many trips he makes — “about 10 a year,” meaning 10 months at sea and only two at home. He quipped that the wife said, “If you spent the other two at sea as well, that would be the end!”

¶ 02 He further said that in India, by 4 a.m. every fishing village sees a radar-map showing zones of fish aggregation, sea surface temperatures, weather and wind. Fishers check and go straight to the right spots. He pledged that once in power, Sri Lankan fishers would receive an SMS to their phones indicating where the fish are and the sea conditions.

¶ 03 I ask the Hon. Fisheries Minister: are fishers receiving these SMS alerts? If so, show us which harbours’ multi-day boats got them. They are not. These were empty promises that misled fishers, just as farmers were misled. Over 90% of those in fisheries voted for this administration believing it would deliver what past governments did not. Now the farmer, fisher, worker and public servant all feel deceived.