SL military interference deprives livelihood of Tamil fisher families in Mannaar

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 November 2012, 23:06 GMT]
More than 2,000 families dependent of fishing as their livelihood at Panangkaddik-koddu, a coastal village situated in Mannaar division of Mannaar district, have complained to the Sri Lankan Government Agent Sarath Raveendra that the SL military officials at Tha'l'laadi military base have provided 108 additional permits to Sinhala fishermen apart from the 65 permits that have been provided by the SL minister for fisheries within the last 2 months. The native people of Panagkaddik-koddu say that the Sri Lankan state-sponsored Sinhala intruders have deprived them of their livelihood.

At a meeting held at the Sri Lanka Navy's Mannaar headquarters on 24 September 2012, the SL minister for fisheries, Rajitha Sananayake, issued 50 permits to Sinhala fishermen from South. He later increased the quota by 15.

Most of the Sinhala fishermen, who were allowed access to the seas off Panangkaddik-koddu were from Negombo and Chilaapam (Chilaw).

However, 108 new permits were issued to Southern fishermen at a meeting held at Tha'l'laadi military base on 28 October 2012, the representatives of the Tamil fishermen say.

The SL military has also threatened the Tamil families not to protest against the intruding fishermen from the South.

The Tamil fishermen have now appealed to the SLGA not to allow the SL military to interfere in the livelihood affairs and to limit the number of outside fishermen in their area.