Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda said that under the fourth phase of X-Press Pearl ship damage compensation, measures will be taken to provide compensation to fishermen working in the dried fish industry as well as to people engaged in other jobs related to fishing.
The Minister revealed this during a meeting held on Monday (4) with a group of fishermen involved in the dried fish industry in the Negombo area who were affected by the ship damage.
Gampaha District MP Nimal Lanza directed this group to the Fisheries Minister and he said that MP Lanza had given him a long explanation about the damage caused to their fishing industry due to the X-Press Pearl ship destruction.
They pointed out to the Minister that while they were engaged in the dried fish industry by taking advantage of the Negombo lagoon area utilising the Negombo coast, they also lost their fishing industry occupation due to the X-Press Pearl ship destruction and that they had to stop drying fish on the coastal line for awhile and that it severely impacted their economic conditions.
The group also requested Minister Devananda to pay attention to this and take steps to provide compensation for the loss caused to their jobs.
Explaining the facts to the group, the Minister emphasised that the compensation for the losses caused to the fishermen due to this shipwreck has been done in several stages and necessary measures will be taken to compensate those engaged in the dried fish trade related to the fishing industry as their livelihood. A group of officials including Ministry Secretary Indu Ratnayaka participated in this event.