Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2016-08-16

Re-development of the Chilaw Fishery Harbour

- The re-development of the Fishery Harbour at Chilaw, situated near the estuary of the Deduru Oya, is a long awaited request made by the fishermen of the area and accordingly, its renovation work is now being carried out. Presently, 1,110 OFRP and 35 Multi-Day Boats are engaged in deep sea and coastal fishing around the fishery harbour at Chilaw and the lagoon basin is used as an anchorage by such boats. The main issue at stake here is that when the boats are sailing through the estuary of the Deduru Oya, as an entrance channel, such boats fall into a vulnerable position. Especially, during the time of rough seas, many losses of lives and property have been caused due to boat accidents that took place around the estuary area. As a result, fishing activities of the people have been limited to the period in which the calm sea conditions prevail. As a remedial measure, construction of a breakwater and the removal of sand deposited in the area associated with the access channel and the estuary should be done, as recommended by a feasibility study made in this regard, and accordingly the proposal made by Hon. Mahinda Amaraweera, the Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development, to obtain funds of Rs.550 million required for the purpose, was approved by the Cabinet.