Govt. to lease 150 hectares of land for marine aquaculture
The Cabinet of Ministers has approved a proposal put forward by Sri Lanka’s Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Development Minister Mahinda Amaraweera to lease 150 hectares of coastal area to Global Ceylon Seafood (Pvt) Ltd, a joint venture (JV) firm between Sri Lanka’s Continental Ceylon Seafood (Pvt) Ltd and Norwegian company, Continental Ceylon Seafood A.S for the purpose of setting up an aquaculture project for commercial operation.
The leased stretch of coastal area is located in Koddiyar, Trincomalee and belongs to the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA).
The lease is for a 30-year period and Global Ceylon Seafood (Pvt) Ltd intends to farm pompano, moda (a sea bass species) and kossa (a variety of grouper).
Despite being an island, marine aquaculture is not a popular practice in the country like it is in the East Asian region.
Meanwhile, the aquaculture farm project in Mannar, which had reportedly faced obstacles in going forward due to the land area being classified as a nature reserve, received Cabinet approval to resume its development earlier this month.
Sustainable Development and Wildlife Minister Gamini Jayawickrema Perera and Fisheries Minister Mahinda Amaraweera had proposed to the Cabinet to remove the land extent identified for the project from the limits of the Vedithalathivu Natural Reserve.
The project was originally planned to be a 4,000-acre, but the Cabinet has said that 3,684 acres or 1,491 hectares will be removed from the natural reserve for the project. The Cabinet has named it the Aquaculture Industrial Estate in Manthai.
According to reports, four companies of the Sri Lanka Seafood Exporters Association had already pledged to divide four land blocks of 500 acres each and invest a total US$ 72 million in initial investments to kick start the project.
OSL TAKE:
With the Sri Lankan government expressing its willingness to provide the necessary property lease for such a venture and given the scarcity of the practice, companies that specialise in marine aquaculture have an opportunity to enter the country and revolutionise the practice.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20092017/Z_10 |