Govt explains reason for Navy deployment at Red Sea

January 9, 2024 at 3:30 PM

Opposition Leader MP Sajith Premadasa has raised concerns over the government’s decision to deploy a Navy vessel for Rs. 250 million at the Red Sea to prevent attacks by Yemen-backed Houthi rebels on merchant vessels. 

Addressing the Parliament today (Jan 09), MP Premadasa questioned the benefits to Sri Lanka from engaging in operations against the Houthi rebels.

“What benefit does Sri Lanka stand to gain from spending such a large amount of money, especially at a juncture when unemployment is rife throughout the country, and small & micro-scale industrialists have all been subject to peril,” he questioned. 

MP Premadasa further queried if Sri Lanka has made any such agreements to sort out its debt to foreign nations, stating that, however, the authorities have decided to spend more money, instead of sorting out its debt or utilizing it for the benefit of the public who are facing great difficulties. 

Responding to the Opposition Leader, the State Minister of Defence Premitha Bandara Tennakoon said that the matter was not related to the USA or Israel, but the effects on Sri Lanka due to the attacks on merchant vessels by the Houthi rebels. 

The State Minister explained that if Sri Lanka’s merchant vessels avoided the Red Sea and used the South African coast, it would result in a severe increase in the prices of goods. 

Stating that this situation severely affects Sri Lanka’s economy, State Minister Tennakoon also clarified that a special cost is not being borne by the government for the deployment of the Navy vessel for this purpose. 

He added that similar deployment of vessels has been in practice as part of the drug, human, and weapons trafficking preventive operations in the international waters surrounding Sri Lanka. (NewsWire)