News
Devananda calls for end to illegal fishing by Indians in Lankan waters
Sixty-nine Sri Lankan fishing boats are in Indian custody, Minister of Fisheries Douglas Devananda has said during a recent televised interview.Hundreds of Indian boats arrive in Sri Lankan waters and use destructive bottom trawling techniques in the territorial waters of Sri Lanka, the Minister said.
“They have destroyed all marine resources in the Indian territorial waters using these disastrous techniques and they are doing the same in our waters. This has been happening for a long time and things have gradually become worse. That is why our fishermen are protesting.”
Devananda said that during the war, Sri Lankan fishermen had not been able to fish in certain parts of the country’s territorial waters. During our absence, Indian fishermen started poaching in our waters, he said.
“Now, our fishermen are back but the Indians are not stopping. They are extracting our resources. The war ended 15 years ago, and we have still not been able to solve this. This is partially our fault. We have not taken up this issue forcefully. We must tackle this issue legally and diplomatically,” he said. Sri Lanka has banned bottom trawling in 2017/18 and the Fisheries (Regulation of Foreign Fishing Boats) Act of 2018, Sri Lanka has a number of tools it can use to tackle poaching by Indian fishermen.
“We now arrest and jail owners and skippers of Indian boats. There are five Indian skippers in Sri Lankan jails now. The Tamil Nadu Minister of Fisheries spoke to me on the phone recently and asked me to come there for discussions to solve the fishermen’s issues. I said I will come if you stop your fishermen coming this way. He agreed.
I also spoke to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Stalin and he also agreed to stop Indian fishermen coming this way. This is election time in Tamil Nadu. Once the elections are over, we can start negotiations,” he said. Devananda said he spoke to President Ranil Wickremesinghe almost on a daily basis and urged the latter to deploy the Navy to chase away Indian fishermen. The President had also given instructions to the Navy, but the scale of our response is inadequate, he said.
Tamil MPs visited India often and they met the Indian High Commissioner and his deputies here, Devananda said, adding that they hardly talked about the issues faced by Sri Lankan fishermen with Indian officials, he said.”Earlier, Tamil Nadu asked me to allow Indian fishermen to use Sri Lankan waters for two years. I said that could not be done.
The Indians arrive in hundreds of boats and they can cause irreparable damage in a single day. The 1974 and 1976 agreements, taken together with the Exchange of Letters, were signed between Kewal Singh, the then Foreign Secretary to the Government of India, and W.T. Jayasinghe, then Secretary to the Ministry of Defence and Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka, has put the question of fishing rights beyond doubt.
Paragraph 1 of the Exchange of Letters very clearly rules out any fishing rights for the fishermen of the two States in the waters of the other State which reads as follows; “fishing vessels and fishermen of India shall not engage in fishing in the historic waters, the territorial sea and the EEZ of Sri Lanka, nor shall the fishing vessels and fishermen of Sri Lanka engage in fishing in the historic waters, the territorial sea and the EEZ of India, without the express permission of Sri Lanka or India, as the case may be.”
While Indians lost access to Sri Lankan waters, local fishermen lost access to Pedro Bank, and Wadge Bank, the continental shelves off Cape Comorin at the southern tip of India, which had been profitable commercial fishing grounds since the 1920s for both Indian and Sri Lankan boats.
The 75th Anniversary Celebration of the Colombo Plan was held on Friday 03 July at the Galle Face Hotel in Colombo under the patronage of Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya.
Delivering the keynote address, the Prime Minister stated that the Colombo Plan was established 75 years ago at a time when many Asian nations were embarking on the path to independence while confronting challenges of post-war reconstruction and economic development.
She noted that it is a matter of great pride for Sri Lanka that the organization bears the name “Colombo” and that the country continues to serve as its host.
The Prime Minister further noted that, as Sri Lanka pursues digital transformation, sustainable transport systems, and resilient supply chains, the Colombo Plan’s early investments in the country’s energy, agriculture, irrigation, and transport sectors continue to form an important part of the nation’s development foundation.
The Prime Minister also highlighted the significant contribution of the Colombo Plan’s Drug Advisory Programme in addressing the global drug menace, which has a profound impact on youth, public health, and social stability. The Prime Minister emphasized that, under the leadership of the President, the Government of Sri Lanka has accorded high priority to combating the drug menace and expressed appreciation for the continued support extended by the Colombo Plan towards these efforts.
The Prime Minister further stated that today’s world is far more complex than it was in 1951, with rapid technological transformation, climate challenges, and evolving geopolitical dynamics. In this context, the Prime Minister stressed that regional organizations such as the Colombo Plan must continue to evolve, becoming more adaptive and responsive to contemporary challenges. The Prime Minister also underscored the importance of strengthening cooperation in education and human capital development, while fostering greater awareness among younger generations of the value of international cooperation.
During the ceremony, a special tribute was paid to Dr. Benjamin P. Reyes in recognition of his distinguished service as Secretary-General of the Colombo Plan over the past four years. The newly appointed Secretary-General, Chulamee Chartsuwan, was also welcomed.
To commemorate the 75th anniversary, a special commemorative postage stamp and the publication titled “Colombo Plan 75 Years – 75 Stories” were officially launched.
The event was attended by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Employment Arun Hemachandra, Ambassador of Vietnam to Sri Lanka and Chairperson of the Colombo Plan Council Trinh Thi Tam, along with many distinguished guests.
Prime Minister’s Media Division
Dengue hyper-epidemic not yet under control, PHI Union warns
The Public Health Inspectors’ (PHI) Union of Sri Lanka on Friday said the country’s dengue hyper-epidemic situation has still not been brought under control, warning of a fresh rise in cases amid changing weather conditions.
Acting President of the PHI Union Upul Rohana said that although the situation has shown some improvement in areas where outbreaks were first reported, new clusters of infection are now emerging in other parts of the country.
He urged the public to maintain, and not reduce, current dengue prevention activities under any circumstances.
Rohana noted that light showers had begun in several areas under prevailing weather conditions, increasing the risk of mosquito breeding as vector density is already high.
He also identified unoccupied properties as a major challenge in dengue control, pointing out that houses belonging to persons working abroad, as well as newly purchased but uninhabited properties in urban areas, were contributing significantly to mosquito breeding sites.
Meanwhile, the National Dengue Control Unit (NDCU) said on Friday that dengue cases reported so far this year have exceeded 57,000, with 57,668 infections and 35 deaths recorded countrywide.
The NDCU said 1,253 new cases were reported within the past 24 hours alone.District-wise, Colombo has recorded 11,811 cases so far this year, while Gampaha has reported 11,443 cases, making them the two most affected districts.
The Court of Appeal on Friday dismissed a revision application filed by Yoshitha Rajapaksa in connection with the money laundering case popularly known as the “Menik Malla” case.
The application challenged a ruling of the Colombo High Court, which had earlier rejected a preliminary objection raised by the defence during trial proceedings.
The judgment was delivered by a bench comprising Justices Amal Ranaraja and Sumudu Premachandra.
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