As a consequence of the shipwreck, 7753 fishing families have directly lost their income and 2130 families who were engaged in occupations such as drying fish and fish netting have lost their income.
The Sri Lankan Government has allocated Rs. 49415000 to provide the above-mentioned allowance of Rs. 5000 to 9883 families.
State Minister of Ornamental Fish, Inland Fish & Prawn Farming, Fishery Harbour Development, Multiday Fishing Activities and Fish Exports, Kanchana Wijesekera, Minister of Tourism Prasanna Ranatunga and State Minister of Rural Roads and other Infrastructure, Nimal Lanza had lengthy discussions regarding the situation of the fishermen who lost their livelihood due to the MV X-Press Pearl incident.
The Minister of Tourism Prasanna Ranatunga emphasized the need to provide relief to the affected fishermen promptly at the cabinet meeting and the Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa also instructed to take necessary steps to provide relief to them as soon as possible.