Jetty roof blown off less than six months after completion

A sudden strong gust of wind had uprooted the roof of a jetty housing fishing boats at Aluthwatta in Chilaw on Sunday (25) less than six months after its completion. Roofing sheets from the jetty had fallen onto a byroad as well as onto a nearby house, causing damage, Chilaw police stated.

Three jetties had been built at a cost of Rs.3.4 million on the Aluthwatta lagoon beach by the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development after a request made by the local fishermens' union. They were declared open on December 30 last year by Fisheries Minister Mahinda Amaraweera. 

It was the roof of one of those jetties which became uprooted on Sunday. The incident caused minor damage to a house in the vicinty while a telephone line and a power line also collapsed, knocking out electricity and phonelines in the area. 

On closer inspection after the incident, area residents said it was revealed that the roof had not been fixed properly to the jetty's pillars, resulting in the incident. 

Story and Pix by Augustine Fernando in Chilaw

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