TNA’s indifference:

Fishermen’s Associations presidents express dismay

by P. Krishnaswamy

Leaders of fishermen’s associations representing the fishing communities of the Northern province have expressed dismay over the TNA’s indifference to the unending poaching problem and the recent bizarre political developments that are detrimental to their interests.

Presidents of the Federations of Fishermen’s Associations of Jaffna, Mannar, Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi told the Sunday Observer that it is a matter of grave concern that while Friday’s Pieris-Shushma Swaraj talks in New Delhi had not made any headway towards resolving their livelihood problem, the representatives of the Indian fishermen are ironically, insinuating on their right for poaching because they have been engaging in it for over three-decades.

The fishermen’s leaders said that there was not a single instance where the TNA had taken up this issue either with the Tamil Nadu State government or the Indian Union government. If the TNA is sincerely interested in the welfare of the Tamils of the Northern province they should rise to the occasion because the livelihood of over 100,000 Tamil fisher families are involved, they said.

They said that it is the TNA’s bounden duty to express their strong protests because they are the elected representatives of the Northern Tamils and given a mandate primarily to resolve the peoples livelihood problems and not for working on some of their ‘unrealistic’ political agendas, they said.

President, Jaffna District Rural Fisheries Federation, Nagathamby Ponnambalam, President, Mannar District Fishermen’s Federation, Albert Justin Soysa, President, Mullaitivu Fishermen’s Federation, Arul Jeniffer and President, Kilinochchi District Fishermen’s Federation Iruthayam Francis were among the fishermen’s leaders who expressed dismay.