President to open new Peliyagoda fish market on 26 March

Colombo: President Mahinda Rajapaksa will open the newly built state-of-the-art fish trade centre at Peliyagoda in the outskirts of Colombo city on 26 March.

The new Central Fish Market Complex situated on a 3.17 hectare reclaimed marshy land along the main Katunayake airport expressway was built at a cost of 1.7 billion rupees. The Asian Development Bank has provided 675 million rupees and the government has provided the remainder.

The new fish trade centre will replace the age old St. John's fish market built in 1894 in Pettah, Colombo.

The wholesale fish complex on the ground floor will have 148 stalls. The top floors have been allocated for banks, post offices, police services, a restaurant, and a quality control room. A 25-metric tonne ice factory, three cold storages, and a water purifying plant also have been set up.

The new fish trade centre will have a modern parking facility to accommodate 500 cars for its wholesale market.

Sri Lanka Fisheries Corporation yesterday signed an agreement with the Power Asia International Company in regard of establishing the car park.

The Peliyagoda fish market complex is expected to become a distribution and selling centre of fish to all corners of the country.