NT NETWORK
MARGAO
President of the Margao wholesale fish market association Ibrahim Maulana on Wednesday said that the fish traders would agitate at the Azad Maidan in Panaji on Saturday, November 3, if the state government fails to listen to the association on the formalin in fish row in the next two days.
The association had written to the government to hear it on Monday, but since there was no response, the confused fish traders have now decided to hold a dharna.
Disturbed with the government showing no concern to their demand of taking them into confidence “to resolve the formalin in fish issue,” Maulana, along with other fish traders, said that they will stop the import of fish from Thursday onwards and demanded that the chemical formalin be banned.
Blaming the politicians and stating that they do not understand the whole issue of formalin in fish, Maulana said that the government is taking hasty and incorrect decisions without any study on the issue.
He said, “Banning the entry of fish trucks is not the solution. People are demanding good and safe fish. The government allows insulated fish trucks to enter Goa. If one has the intention of cheating, then it can also be done in the insulated fish trucks, as the government does not have the mechanism in place to perform detailed checks. Politicians are fearing the people and, therefore, taking hasty and incorrect decisions without studying the whole issue. We are stopping the import of fish from Thursday onwards till the government puts the fish testing lab in place.”
In the presence of representatives of various taluka level fish traders associations, Maulana further said that when such minor problems cropped up in the past, the fish traders were taken into confidence and the issues were resolved. “However, this time, the Health Minister, the TCP Minister or the government for that matter did not discuss the issue with us. We hope that it will be done in the next two days or else we will be forced to agitate on November 3,” he said.
When asked why the fish traders do not comply with the demands of the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) so that they can be issued the licence to carry on with the trade legally, Maulana said that the demands of the FDA cannot be accepted in totality, as, according to him, the FDA demands documents and permission from the South Goa Planning and Development Authority (SGPDA) and the Margao municipal council (MMC). He further said that the PDA and MMC have refused to provide them the required NOCs till date. “According to the MMC and PDA, the fish traders must produce health certificate in order to get the permission,” he said.
Maulana stated that 6,000-odd people dependant would be affected when import of fish is stopped by the fish traders. He, however, could not provide details on the daily turnover of business carried out at the wholesale fish market in Margao.
Meanwhile, the retail fish market in Margao will remain open on Thursday. “Once this fish is sold, we will shut this market in support of the wholesale fish traders,” said president of the Margao retail fish vendors association Felix Gonsalves.
When asked whether local fish will be sold in the wholesale market, he said that as long as the wholesale fish market remains open, they would carry out their business but added that the prices of such fish would be higher. He also said that many vendors may not be able to carry out normal business.