A group of fishermen protested in front of the archbishop’s house today against the transfer of Pitipana Lellama, Negombo to the Archbishopric of Colombo.
Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith, had handing over of Nigambo Pitipana Lellama to the Catholic Church through a court action.
The Negombo District Court recently ordered that the administration and management of the property of the Negombo Fishery Trading Center popularly known as ”Lellama” be removed from the Pitipana United Fishermen’s Society and assigned to a trustee.
That was when the case related to a complaint filed by the Archbishop against the officers of Pitipana United Fishery Society was called.
In order to protest the handing over of Pitipana Lellama, Negombo to the Archbishopric of Colombo, the fishermen came to the Vatican Apostolic Embassy in Colombo and handed over a letter, which they requested to be submitted to the Vatican.
Then they came in front of the official residence of the Archbishop of Colombo and raised strong objections to the Archbishop of Colombo. The protestors, who said that it was a shameless act to hand over the Lellama that they had for 65 years to the Catholic Church, And they are demanding that the ”Lellama” be given to the fishermen immediately.
“Ghotabhaya Rajapaksa, who destroyed the country, brought to power Kadinal, then he did politics with “Puthano”. Even one Catholic who died was not justified because of the cardinal’s politics. He wants to shake blood,” they said.
In this regard, an announcement has been issued from the Archbishop’s office.
The Colombo Archbishop’s Office issued a statement yesterday afternoon regarding the statements circulating on social media regarding the Negombo pitipana auction and today’s protest.
It shows that the people involved in today’s protest are trying to mislead the fishing community and the public by telling falsehoods about the Pitipana shell.
The statement issued by the archbishop’s office states that the lawsuit was filed regarding this property, which has been enjoyed by only a few people who claim to be the Pitipana Meesame United Fishermen’s Association for many years, with the intention of not owning its income to a wide group of fishermen, but for their personal enjoyment.