The biggest Fisheries Harbour in the country will be built in Dikowita. Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Minister Felix Perera and his officials visited the proposed project site with Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabral on Wednesday. Minister Perera told the Daily News that the proposed harbour will help to promote tuna fish exports. Perera said this project was planned several years back but it is finally being implemented under the direction of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The Central Bank Governor has taken a keen interest in the project, he said. The area of the harbour is 13 hectares. It will have facilities for 20 trawlers and all other requirements for multi-day fishing trawlers including anchoring facilities 1,150 meters in the sea. The minister said the proposed Dikowita Fishery Harbour will be the biggest in the region and construction will be completed in two years. He appealed for the cooperation of all fishermen to achieve that target. Governor Cabraal said if Sri Lanka's ocean region is utilised economically and correctly Sri Lanka would achieve its development target very shortly. The Dikowita Fisheries Harbour Project is funded by the Netherlands Government which has provided Rs 80,000 million.
