Development

President opens Dikkowita harbour:

A new era dawns for fisheries industry

By Shirajiv SIRIMANE

An island nation such as Sri Lanka should not only be self-sufficient in fish, but should actually be exporting its products. For the Maldives, the number one foreign exchange earner is fish exports. This has helped the tiny nation to boast a better per capita income than Sri Lanka.

The main reasons for Sri Lanka to fall back in this area was the 30-year terrorism, which put a halt to deep sea fishing, and lack of fisheries harbours. With all fishing restrictions off, the fishing industry can now make a big contribution to the national economy.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa, when he was Fisheries Minister, identified another reason for the lack of progress in the fisheries industry; the shortage of harbours to carry out fishing. After identifying this crying need, he drew a plan to construct several harbours, but they remained confined to plans since he did not get State patronage to execute them.

Had these harbours been built at that time, the country would not be paying high prices to import fish now; and it would have been a big time fish exporter.

However, after Rajapaksa became President, he went ahead and started building new fisheries harbours. In a bid to assist the Eastern Province, President Rajapaksa built the Valachchenai harbour at a cost of over Rs. 500 million; it was opened last month. It can accommodate over 400 fishing vessels.

The new harbour consists of fuel stations, ice storage facilities, refrigerators, deep freezers and adequate anchorage. The harbour premises comprise 8.1 hectares of land and the harbour basin is around 11.7 hectares. The entrance to the harbour would be expanded to 70 metres from the present length of 50 metres.

Following this, President Rajapaksa also opened the Dikkowita fisheries harbour on Friday with an investment of Euro 51 million; this is the largest fisheries harbour in Asia.

The harbour will help increase the fish harvest due to efficient handling operations.

Tax exemptions

The Dikkowita fisheries harbour

Construction under way at the harbour

Entrance to the harbour

The President said the fisheries industry was exempted from tax. “The income derived from the fisheries industry is exempt from tax,” he said.

President Rajapaksa recollected how progressive governments led by former Prime Ministers S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike and Sirimavo Bandaranaike were committed to the uplift of the fisheries industry.

“Many fisheries harbours were developed in accordance with international standards under the stewardship of Ministers Philip Gunawardena and George Rajapaksa,” he said.

President Rajapaksa said the Government has established banks to inculcate the savings habit among fishing communities.

He said the Government launched a housing program for fishing communities living in shanties along the coastal belt. President Rajapaksa was of the view that the children of fishing communities should also have the opportunity for higher education and stressed the need for creating a more conducive environment for this purpose.

The President said that the Ocean University was established with the sole objective of upgrading the industry to professional standards.

The Dutch Government has provided Euro 53 million for the fisheries harbour and BAM International was awarded the contract for the design and construction of the fisheries harbour in Dikkowita situated near Hendala.

The new fisheries harbour stands on an 8.1-hectare area and has 11.7 hectares for the harbour basin. It is designed to handle a catch of 125 tons of fish per day. It will reduce the sailing distance and waste due to spoilage.

One of the unique designs of the harbour is two separate sections for local and international fish operations.

The Dikkowita fisheries harbour will provide a large number of direct and indirect employment opportunities and attract local and foreign investments in fisheries, he said.

The harbour has an administration building, auction building, fish processing units, six cool rooms, a net and glass fibre repair building, a general store with firefighting equipment, crew amenities, a canteen, fuel and water facilities and a slipway.

Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Minister Rajitha Senaratne said this harbour will help increase the fish harvest due to efficient handling operations.

“It will reduce the sailing distance and waste due to spoilage. The Dikkowita fisheries harbour will provide a large number of direct and indirect job opportunities and attract local and foreign investments in fisheries,” he said. A special Project Implementing Unit (PIU) will oversee the functions of the fisheries harbour on behalf of the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Ministry. “The fisheries sector is Sri Lanka’s third most important contributor to economic growth. It is second only to agriculture and tourism. The fisheries industry will become the main contributor to the Sri Lankan economy within the next few years. I hope to provide a 50 percent contribution to Sri Lanka’s economy at the end of this year by doubling fish exports”, Dr. Senaratne said.

Managing Director, Ceylon Fisheries Harbour Corporation, Lal Samarasinghe said the Dikkowita harbour will provide direct access to the sea for local fishermen who now have to use the Hamilton Canal and the Negombo lagoon.

Many facilities

“We offer facilities for bunkering shipping vessels with four ice plants, four cool rooms, and fuel sheds, a large fish processing area, large canteen, a fish net repairing facility and remote-controlled boat lifting facility. In addition, the facility would have a fish auction hall, large canteen, parking for large containers and vehicles, net mending facility and a special waste disposal system".

He said several international trawler operators from Japan and Europe had already consented to bringing in fish caught from international waters to Dikkowita for processing and then for re-export. They would also use the harbour for bunkering, supplies, attending to repairs and for many other services.

”The Bandaranaike International Airport is situated closeby and the geographical location of the harbour is one of the biggest advantages for them to select this harbour,” he said.

These trawlers could use the Southern terminal while the Northern terminal would be allocated to local fishermen. Dikkowita is equipped with modern conveyer belts to minimise post-harvest losses, thus ensuring high quality exports.

The Dikkowita Fisheries Harbour would also help in accommodating multi-day trawlers which were anchored in the Hamilton Canal and the Negombo Lagoon. He said the project was a brainchild of President Rajapaksa and this fills a great void in the country for the fishing industry.

He said the future of the project would include a mini hotel for overseas staff who arrive in trawlers to stay overnight, a can factory and a large vessel repairing facility among other facilities.