Awareness programme on prevention of illegal activities via sea was held in Colombo

An awareness programme to educate local fishing communities as how to prevent illegal activities in Sri Lankan waters was held under the patronage of Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Priyantha Perera and Director General of the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DFAR) Mr Susantha Kahawatte at the Light House Galley, Colombo on 23rd February 2023.

The scope of this meeting was to educate about illegal activities carried out by a handful of local fishing communities and to improve cooperation between fishing communities and the law enforcement agencies in order to curb illegal activities such as drug trafficking, human smuggling and other illegal activities taking place via sea routes.

Deputy Chief of Staff and Director General Operations, Rear Admiral Pradeep Rathnayake, Director General Sri Lanka Coast Guard, Rear Admiral Pujitha Vithana, senior officers from the Navy Headquarters, officers from DFAR including Fisheries Inspectors of each area and a group of representatives of fishing societies from Chilaw to Hambantota areas were also presented on this occasion.