A special discussion regarding the allocation of land for a shrimp farm project proposed to be built at Hatagala area in Hungama of Hambantota district was held at the Ministry of Fisheries on 05.10.2023 under the chairmanship of Mr. Douglas Devananda, Minister of Fisheries.
Renbow Food (Pvt.) Ltd. and KMN Aqua Services (Pvt) Ltd companies are together planning to construct large-scale shrimp ponds on the advice of the Minister of Fisheries Mr. Douglas Devananda as an environment-friendly project, with the aim of providing employment opportunities to the people of the area, and the Ambalantota Divisional Secretary N.C.P Ranasinghe was called and inquired about the allocation of the necessary land for this purpose and the Secretary stated that there is a certain amount of land reserved for the needs of the government in the Hathangala area in Hungama and the necessary land can be allocated for the project.
Commenting on this, the Minister said that those who get government land reserved for projects in many areas have started the relevant projects on those lands and given up halfway leading to a loss of confidence in the project and this has led to the expression of protest by the people against such projects. The minister said that if the land given for the shrimp farm project will be taken over by the government in case of failure to complete construction within the stipulated time.
Secretary to the Ministry Ms. Indu Ratnayake, Ambalantota Divisional Secretary Mrs. N.C.P. Ranasinghe, high-ranking officials of the Ministry, and officials of the private institutions were present on this occasion.
