The Hon. Hector Appuhamy

¶ 01 Thank you, Hon. Presiding Member. With limited time, I will focus on the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources. We must speak for the fisher community that lives with the sea.

¶ 02 I remind the Minister that the Puttalam District seems forgotten by the Government and President—the 2025 Budget gave weight elsewhere; 2026 too prioritizes other areas. Our coastal and inland fisheries contribute significantly to foreign exchange, yet no allocations were made for our district’s fisheries.

¶ 03 Small-scale fishers with small boats face severe difficulties: costs of boats, engines, spares, repairs, fuel, and nets are very high. Estate workers get Rs. 200 support; big companies linked to the Government get facilities, but what about fishers? At minimum, reduce taxes on essential inputs. No such measures were considered.

¶ 04 Funds have been allocated for disaster response for fishers. We need a program to recover multi-day and small boats after mishaps at sea. If a fisher falls ill at sea, there must be a system to bring him ashore. We proposed a few high-speed boats equipped like ambulances, staffed and kept on standby to cover all regions, to rescue in medical emergencies and retrieve capsized boats. Allocate a fund to hire helicopters in dire situations and coordinate with the Air Force to save lives.

¶ 05 A Halawatha fisher went missing at sea months ago and has not been found; his companion survived after fighting the sea for a day. This is a national failure; please intervene.

¶ 06 On stake-net (madal) operators: the President asked for a report rather than an immediate ban on tractors with winches used to surround nets; give them a period and then, based on the report, design a program to phase out. Do not ban outright by end-December without alternatives; many depend on this activity.

¶ 07 On the proposed fisher pension: fishers are not interested because the contribution-based scheme would return only Rs. 10,000–20,000 per month at age 60, essentially returning only their own contributions. A similar 1994 scheme ended up paying as low as Rs. 1,250 per month—meaningless today. Revamp it fundamentally; otherwise no fisher will join.

¶ 08 On lagoon-related fisheries: our region’s lagoons are critical, but no funds were allocated to develop lagoon-based fisheries such as crab, inland fish, or prawn culture, despite prior plans. Meanwhile, funds are set aside to develop harbors in the Minister’s area and the South. Are fishers elsewhere not fishers? Allocate equitably and develop infrastructure across all coasts.

¶ 09 On export markets: multi-day operators spend heavily but receive poor prices; a better, more systematic market mechanism is needed for multi-day and small boats alike.

¶ 10 A final note: to Government members—do not distribute benefits only to your own villages. Ours is an island; fisheries exist all around. Allocate funds to uplift infrastructure and programs for fishers in every region.

¶ 11 Thank you.