Mannar fishermen's sufferings spotlighted

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 January 2006, 17:33 GMT]
About twenty thousand fishermen in Mannar district have been directed by the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) to submit their application forms before January 31, with two photographs of each applicant authorized by their respective village level officers (Grama Sevaka Officers), fisheries inspectors and secretaries of fisheries societies, to obtain special permit for fishing in Mannar sea. Starting from February every fisherman should possess a permit before he goes out to sea to fish, SLN said.

"In addition to the SLN directive, Grama Sevaka Officers in the Mannar divisional secretariat division are also insisting fishermen in their areas to submit an additional photograph for their own administrative use. The new expenses are an additional financial burden on the already economically affected fishermen," said Mr.Selvam Adaikalanathan, Wanni district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian in a letter to the Mannar Divisional Secretary.

Mr.Adaikalanathan has requested the Mannar DS to instruct the village level officers not to burden the poor fishermen, sources said.