21 December 2020 12:00 am
By Ajithlal Shanthaudaya
IGP C.D. Wickramaratne has requested all senior police officials not to use imported fish in the police mess. He has made this request from DIG’s, HQIs, and OIC’s on Friday (18).
He has pointed out that Sri Lanka, although a country surrounded by the sea, had spent Rs.38.9 billion on import of fish in 2019 and that the government’s policy was to cut down the import of fish to the barest minimum to save this colossal expenditure and to provide incentives to the local fishermen.
The IGP has said that he made a request to use local fish in police messes in pursuance of the government’s policy as indicated in the recent statement of Secretary to the Ministry of Fisheries. The Ministry Secretary R. M. Ratnayake had stated that 95,637 metric tons of fish had been imported to Sri Lanka in 2019 and that the government’s policy was to cut down imports to protect the local fishermen. The IGP has further stated that large stocks of imported fish were being consumed by the police and the security forces, the hospitals and prisons.