Japan provides multi-day fishing boats for tsunami hit fishermen

The Government of Japan presented two multi-day fishing boats worth Rs. 64 million to rebuild and rehabilitate the fishing industry in the tsunami affected areas.

The 50ft, multi-day fishing boats, which are built to be in the off-shore for a longer period and have a larger capacity to store the fish harvest, will result in increasing the harvest in the area. The Government of Japan hopes that these two multi-day boats will help to rebuild the livelihoods of fishermen who were badly affected by the tsunami.

The Government of Japan granted US $ 80 million as non-project grant aid immediately after the tsunami, to rebuild and reconstruct the communities affected by the tsunami. This grant was used for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of a wide range of sectors including fisheries, water supply and sanitation, health, education, housing, energy and roads in the North, East and South of Sri Lanka.

Of the US $ 80 million, US $ 20 million has beeb allocated to the fisheries sector, considering the economic and social importance of the industry.

The launching ceremony of the multi-day fishing boats was held at the Mutwal Fisheries Harbour on Friday with the participation of Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Felix Perera, Deputy Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Neomal Perera and Yasuhiro Watanabe, Second Secretary of the Japanese Embassy on behalf of Kiyoshi Araki, the Ambassador of Japan in Sri Lanka.