People-friendly fish market in Peliyagoda

By Mohammed NAALIR

The St. John’s fish market at Reclamation road in Colombo which was shifted to Peliyagoda has now caught on with the people and they seem to be coming here more than they did to the St. John’s fish market because this is set up in a people-friendly environment and is far cleaner than the earlier fish market-which was so unhygienic that many people were wary of buying fish from here.

The new fish market consists of 154 wholesale and 15 retail stalls. Over 3,000 consumers from Colombo city and its suburbs buy fish from this market daily. Over 360,000 kilos of fish is brought to Peliyagoda fish market daily from various parts of the country, premises manager of Central Fish Market, Peliyagoda, H.V.J. Gihan Vithanage told the Sunday Observer.

Over 75 fish lorries come to Peliyagoda fish market daily from Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Colombo, Kalutara, Kurunegala, Jaffna, Hambantota, Matara, Gampaha, Mannar, Galle and Puttalam districts, according to Vithanage.The number of door-to-door fish sellers who come on motor cycles and push cycles amount to 550, the premises manager said.

The daily fish business has caught on. The fish which is brought to this market is sold on the same day. If it remains it is sent to be converted as dry fish or Maldive fish, fish Sellers Association President Jayasiri Wickramarachchi said.

Early this month there was a slight drop in fish sales. Unlike the St. John’s fish market fish do not perish at the Peliyagoda fish market, Wickramarachchi said.There are 44 cutting stalls at the Peliyagoda Central Fish market, an officer of the fish market said. A waste water treatment plant is functioning in the premises under the supervision of the Central Environment Authority.

The fish market complex was constructed under the Idiridekma program of the Mahinda Chinthana national development concept. Surangika, a consumer from Wattala area said that fresh fish is available at the Peliyagoda fish market at a reasonable price. The environment is also clean when compared to St. John’s fish market. She said that all facilities are available at this market including banking facilities. There is enough room in the fish market for a large number of lorries to be stationed within the premises unlike earlier.

An Officer of the Fisheries Ministry said that after the elimination of the LTTE a large number of fish lorries were coming daily from the North and the East. Prices were reasonable because there was no third party involvement. This has resulted in the decrease of fish price, a top ranking officer of the fisheries Ministry said. The fisheries corporation has imposed restriction that nobody could lease the stalls to another person. All stalls have been allocated to fish dealers. Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne has also instructed the authorities to maintain fish prices.

Even though only one year has lapsed after the opening of the Peliyagoda fish market it has achieved considerable growth.

All facilities necessary for a fish market is available here including a flake ice plant within the premises.

There are state and private banks and shops to purchase fishing equipment within the premises.President Mahinda Rajapaksa opened the Fish Market on March 26, last year on a request extended by Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Minister Rajitha Senaratne. The market is situated on a 3.17 hectare land along the Colombo-Katunayake airport expressway. This fish market was constructed at a cost of Rs. 1.7 billion. The Asian Development Bank provided Rs.675 million and the Government of Sri Lanka spent the rest.The modern location is scoured with holes on the ground, which holds fluid fish waste. But, if one thinks that the shift from Colombo’s St. John’s fish market in Pettah to the new, hygienic and spacious premises in Peliyagoda, will be affected, one has to learn about established market practices dying hard.

But, short of the St. John’s fish market being officially closed, the Peliyagoda complex will eventually emerge as the central fish market complex to Colombo and its suburbs because of the facilities available, cold room storage, a place for de-gutting fish waste area, the deep drains for water drainage, the Bank of Ceylon and the Commercial Bank and even good toilets are available, fish is displayed on ceramic tiled tables. The water body in the periphery of the complex, will perhaps, absorb its fluid waste, but keeping the scavenger crows out, may prove another problem.

Early morning, thousands of fish vendors on bicycles arrive at the fish market. They comb every road and by-lane within a radius of 25 miles and more carrying out the useful commercial operation of making fish available to the public. In the process, these thousands of bicycle vendors support their families, transferring resources harvested from the sea to fluid cash. The wholesale and retail units of the new fish market complex are housed in separate buildings. The wholesalers pay a rent of Rs. 20,000 a month while the other Rs. 5,000 for an office; the retail units entail monthly rents of Rs.10,000 we were told.