May 26, Colombo: Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda said fishermen in Sri Lanka spend between 5,000 and 10,000 rupees per day on kerosene for boat engines, and to reduce that cost, a private engineering firm in Sri Lanka has started to produce boat engines operated by batteries.

The Fisheries Minister mentioned this while participating in the distribution of kerosene received from China to the fishermen free of charge and battery powered engines for fishing activities were also introduced at the event.

Chinese government gifted 4.05 million liters of kerosene to Sri Lankan fishermen to overcome both internal and external challenges and 27,000 fishing boats across Sri Lanka have received 150 liters per boat free of charge.

The Minister requested the Chinese Ambassador Qi Zhenhong to look into the possibility of improving the battery powered engines with the assistance of the Chinese government and provide the necessary support.

The Minister also invited Chinese businessmen to invest in the Panadura Fisheries Harbor for tourism and to make the Fishery harbor a tourist paradise.