20th day of Gammadda door-to-door initiative

COLOMBO (News1st): The construction of a fisheries port in Ambalantota is yet to be completed, the Gammadda team found during its door-to-door campaign that is underway. The government had reclaimed land in the Welipatamwila area in Ambalantota to construct a fisheries port. However, boats are now forced to dock in the shore instead of a port in the area. This is because the project that began in 2011 is yet to be completed. A breakwater had been constructed under the first phase of the project. However, the fishing port is yet to be constructed. Sand has been accumulated on one area of the site of the proposed port since the breakwater has been constructed only on one side. Meanwhile, the people of Sumudugama in Trincomalee earn a living through the fisheries industry near the Blackbay fishing port. Since 1998, these residents have been hoping to live in a house equipped with facilities. But their hopes are yet to be realized. "When Mahinda Rajapaksa was the fisheries minister in 1998, he addressed us opposite a Montessori that was here and said that flats would be constructed for us," one resident said. However, 126 families in the area still live in shacks. The encroachment of wild elephants on the Ihala Iribissaawa area in Mahawa is a common occurrence in the village. These villagers told our Gammadda team that they are forced to purchase firecrackers, even if they cannot purchase rice. They spend their nights in tree houses to protect themselves from wild elephants. Crops that are cultivated in the morning and destroyed at night. The only request of these villagers is for an electric fence.