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Opening the debate, Opposition lawmaker Dilip Wedaarachchi (UNP MP – Hambantota) charged the Government was not taking necessary action to solve the issues with European Union fishing imports from Sri Lanka.
“The European Union imports 80% of our catch. Now the laws are against us. In 2010, the EU informed us about foreign fishing vessels fishing in our waters using illegal methods under our flag. They were concerned about our vessels not being fitted with a vessel monitoring system to prevent illegal activities. There are 4,111 multi-day fishing trawlers in Sri Lanka. These vessels bring us an annual income of EUR 74 million. We need to solve the issues with the European Union. Our Ministry has failed to support the fishermen, regardless of the warning EU has issued to discontinue imports from next year,” said MP Wedaarachchi.
However, Minister of Social Welfare Milroy Fernando turned the Budget debate towards a different direction, blaming the Minister Dr. Senaratne for not being able to handle the issues of the fishermen skilfully.
“We need to handle the fishermen carefully and friendly. There are eight MPs elected from votes of fishermen. We don’t agree with how the Minister handled the fishermen by attacking them recently. He has branded then as JVP members. Fishermen are predominantly Catholics. Tell me if there was a single Catholic person involved in JVP activities in ’71 or ’88? When you hit our fishermen, how do we get their votes if you go threatening them?” said Minister Fernando.
According to Niroshan Perera (UNP MP – Puttalam), the recent Budget is nothing more than a proposal extended to take revenge from the fishermen. “Why are the Minister and the Deputy Minister summoned to Temple Trees most of the time? Why do you let them down in front of the anglers? We know the Minister is capable but it seems that President is confident that you are capable of handling the issues of the fishermen. You are not given necessary support and the President is giving step-motherly treatments. You are a senior member in this House and it is not required for you to continue safeguarding the ‘Mahinda Chinthana’,” said MP Perera.
Deputy Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Sarath Kumara Gunaratne said all necessary action was being by the Government to uplift the fishermen and their livelihood. “The Minister has pledged that the issues will be solved soon. Money has been requested from the Government for aquarium fish development and establishment of hatcheries,” he said.
In response, Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne said he has increased the fish harvest from 339,000MT in 2009 to 512,000MT end of 2013.
“When I met the EU in 2013, they were convinced that Sri Lanka has made credible progress and positive cooperation. But again in July they say we haven’t made any progress. I don’t understand the double standards. They are to visit Sri Lanka to inspect the situation. We only have to install the vessel monitoring mechanism. This is the only prevailing issue. To select a company it took four years. This is the Sri Lankan way of doing things, which they don’t understand. The EU is not interested about the technical issues we face in arriving at a decision. The President had several discussions with me. The issue is that there are several fisheries ministers in this Government. I don’t want to continue holding this position. If requested, I am willing to give it back,” he charged.
