• Manusha takes offence with low imported fish tax, high GPS tech cost 

The Ministry of Labour and Foreign Employment alleged that the officials of the Ministry of Finance, Economic Stabilisation and National Policies are working without any understanding regarding the protection of the fishing community and the industry.

Speaking during a discussion with representatives of the fishing community, Labour and Foreign Employment Minister Manusha Nanayakkara claimed that the relevant officials of the Finance, Economic Stabilisation and National Policies Ministry have failed to implement a programme for the protection of the fishing community and industry. "We are surrounded by the sea, but we still import canned fish. The tax imposed on a kilogram of imported canned fish is only about Rs. 100 or Rs. 200. That is also charged by disregarding the water weight. This tax is imposed by the Government and it is we who have voted in favour of this. However, this system has been prepared by the Finance Ministry officials. They don’t know how to protect the fishing community," he charged.

During the discussion, which focused on the wellbeing of the fishing community, he further said that it is doubtful whether the Sri Lankan fishermen use protective equipment that are used by fishermen in other parts of the world. "If our fishermen also used such equipment, we could have prevented most of the accidents. We have prepared the legislation to make it mandatory to use such. Some may think that we are trying to frame you with these regulations, however, we will be working to ensure the protection of the workers."

Nanayakkara also commented on the use of global positioning system (GPS) technology for fishing boats. "To install GPS, the fishermen have to bear a cost of around Rs. 800,000. Only one company has been given permission to manufacture them. Fishermen need the GPS technology, but, what has happened here is that the authorities have made it compulsory to install the GPS system provided by Australia and not others. The fishermen will not get the licence to go to sea if they have not got it installed," he said, and added that the Government would work to provide solutions to most such issues in the future. 

Attempts to contact the Finance Ministry in this regard for a comment proved futile.