The Hon. Ajith Gihan

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, I will focus on the Fisheries Ministry’s expenditure head. Opposition MPs from several parties shared ideas and proposals; we are ready to take what is useful. But some are not up to date with current initiatives. The Ministry and its institutions have a comprehensive plan to take the sector forward, leveraging technology as emphasized by the President.

¶ 02 Hon. Hector Appuhamy mentioned Puttalam and the challenges of multi-day fishers. The costs are high today due to the economic crisis created by those who bankrupted the country. The burden inevitably fell on fishers. Since we took office a year ago, we have made plans and are working to revive the sector: the Minister, State Minister, Secretary, Directors-General, and our institutions are striving.

¶ 03 Regarding multi-day vessels: during your governments, many were anchored. We are reactivating them. We reduced fuel prices by Rs. 30 for large boats and Rs. 20 for small boats, and provided fuel support—facts that can be verified.

¶ 04 Our institutions—Department of Fisheries, Ceylon Fisheries Harbours Corporation, NARA, NAQDA, and also North Sea Ltd. and Cey-Nor Foundation—were run down previously. We are strengthening Cey-Nor to produce quality nets with the best yarn. North Sea Ltd., which produced fiber boats and tourism-related products, was made loss-making before; we are restoring it to profitability.

¶ 05 We are ready to build jetties for multi-day operations. In Puttalam’s Wellamankara, funds have been allocated for three more jetties—visit and see. For Halawatha fishers, we are discussing with the Harbours Corporation a new plan, with a fresh feasibility study, to relaunch small boats; talks begin next month. We have allocated funds to build the Kalpitiya harbour next year.

¶ 06 On madal/stake-net and light-coarse issues: while we are ready to discuss with stakeholders, we must protect the sea, small fishers, and the environment. We will regulate and formalize activities; we will not authorize illegal practices simply because protests were held. We will bring a new Fisheries Act, instead of the fragmented seven amendments previously dragged along, to regulate and develop the sector properly.

¶ 07 On aquaculture: we have plans to strengthen prawn farming by aligning hatchery operators, farmers, and exporters to boost exports. The same for dried fish producers and ornamental fish. Salmon, which you imported before, is now moving toward export.

¶ 08 Some try to score political points with half-truths. We have a clear agenda and vision to lift the fisheries sector during this recovery period.

¶ 09 Thank you.