Four multipurpose fishing harbors to be built with Korean assistance in next 2 years

Four multipurpose fishing harbors will be completed in the next two years to economically empower the fishing community in Sri Lanka, State Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Dilip Wedaarachchi said.

The State Minister emphasised that the people in the North as well as the entire fishing community needed to be economically empowered. Accordingly, the construction of the multi-purpose fishing harbours needed to be expeditiously completed and their benefits should be delivered to the public in a short span of time.

State Minister Wedaarachchi expressed these views at a recent meeting with a high-level delegation from the South Korean Fisheries Ministry. The seven-member delegation was headed by the Director of the Korean Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries Kweon Jun Young and Deputy Director Seo Dong Hyun.

The Korean delegates expressed their consent to the Minister that the feasibility reports related to the establishment of the four multipurpose fishing harbors be designed by their country free of charge. 

They also stated that construction work on the harbours would be completed within two years in accordance with the request of the Minister.

The multipurpose fishing harbours are planned to be established in Chalai, Delft, Madakal and Udappuwa in order to adequately facilitate fisheries, tourism and commercial purposes. It was also decided to design the four harbors to ensure a 5 m depth to provide access to large vessels.

The Korean delegates have visited the Chilaw-Udappuwa area where the first multipurpose fishing harbor is planned to be established.