Northern fishermen call off protest action
[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 March 2006, 02:43 GMT]
Valligamam South and West fishermen temporarily called off their protest against Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) after the Northern Regional Sri Lanka Navy Chief assured the fishermen, at a meeting Monday at Mathagal SLN base between Fishermen Societies Consortium and SLN, that he will take action to stop SLN soldiers from harassing the fishermen and damaging their fishing accessories, source said.
Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) representatives were also present at the meeting. The Vadamarachchi north Fishermen Societies Consortium which announced Tuesday suspension of fishing in support of Valligam south and west fishermen, said that it will also suspend its protest following the pledge made by the Navy Chief, sources said. However, the Fishermen Societies Consortiums said they will not hesitate to resume their protest and suspend fishing again if their problems are not solved promptly, members of the Consortium said. Meanwhile, Sakkoddai Fishermen Society has lodged a complaint Monday with the Human Rights Commission office and the SLMM office in Jaffna that fishing nets of fishermen fishing in the Sakkoddai seas were destroyed by SLN Dvora patrol boats Monday early morning, said fishermen from that area.
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