JICA to provide two vessels to SL Coast Guard
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) signed a Grant
Agreement with the government as part of the 'Project for Maritime
Safety Capability Improvement' providing two patrol vessels to the Sri
Lanka Coast Guard (SLCG) recently.
Following the signing of Exchange of Notes between the Ambassador of
Japan, Kenichi Suganuma and Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, Dr.
R.H Samaratunga, a Grant Agreement was signed between Dr. Samaratunga
and Chief Representative of JICA, Sri Lanka Office, Kiyoshi Amada.
Director General, SLCG, Rear Admiral D. D. A. S. Wimalathunge was also
present.
|
Chief Representative, JICA, Kiyoshi Amada and Secretary to
the Ministry of Finance, Dr R. H. Samaratunga exchange the
agreement. Ambassador for Japan Kenichi Suganuma and
Director, Sri Lanka Coast Guard, Rear Admiral D.D. A.
Wimalathunga look on. |
The agreement entails the procurement and crew training of two
state-of-the-art 30-m class patrol vessels, the largest of its kind to
be used by SLCG, worth approximately 1.8 billion Japanese Yen (Rs. 2.4
billion). The Project aims to boost SLCG operations contributing towards
the improvement of maritime safety, maritime law enforcement and
assisting in the preservation of the marine environment.
"As Sri Lanka is an island nation, enhancing maritime safety
capability is critical to the country's socio-economic development. JICA
has long supported SLCG and these vessels will strengthen its role in
search and rescue, maritime environment preservation and ensuring to
carry out this critical work," said Amada.
In addition to the Maritime Safety Capability Improvement project,
JICA has also engaged in several important maritime cooperation
initiatives extending valuable technical assistance to SLCG such as
training on oil spill incident management.
This expertise together with granted equipment helped SLCG respond
diligently during recent which occurred at the Thaldiyawatte lagoon,
Dikowita and Nilvala River in Akurassa. Collaborating with the Japan
Coast Guard (JCG), JICA conducted a series of oil spill management
training programs using Sri Lankan Ports to train SLCG Oil Spill
Response Team (OSRT) members.
Since the year 2014, 29 SLCG officers have participated in short term
training programs in Japan.
A Master Degree Program has been organized in Japan to develop policy
making specialists by providing graduate level training and practical
education in the field of maritime safety.
|
