Fishermen cry foul over compensation

A fisheries union yesterday asked why politicians are given Rs. 5 million compensation for death caused by tragedy and a fisherman gets only Rs. 100,000.

Chairman of All Ceylon Fisheries People Trade Union (ACFPTU) Aruna Roshantha Fernando said the government must take responsibility for the fishermen killed in last week’s storm because it didn’t have a mechanism to warn or rescue them.

“If a warning was issued the fishermen would not have gone out to the sea. The meteorology department claims they issued a warning, but we didn’t hear a warning from the media or the regional fisheries authorities. Then when disaster struck no plan was initiated to rescue the fishermen until the fishing community protested,” Mr. Fernando said.

He charged the government had withheld the real number of deaths, adding that according to their estimates the death toll is close to 100.

“We cannot go to sea due to the adverse weather. We don’t have any other livelihood. The government should take steps to at least distribute dry rations among the affected families. All the deceased fishermen’s families should receive compensation and if not we will launch trade union action,” he vowed.

He said the tax payer’s money is being used for the personal needs of politicians and not for the benefit of the public.

“Often we see helicopters being used for politicians to travel for events or political rallies but when fisher folk were in danger we had to protest to get helicopters to search for them,” he said.

He said the government had saved Rs. 990 million by not giving fishermen the promised fuel subsidy. He said the government should use this money to pay at least Rs. 2 million for each deceased fisherman’s family, and the remaining amount be used to buy a helicopter for the Fisheries Ministry to be used in case of emergency.