The government has finally buckled under intense public pressure and just a day before the doors of the assembly complex could open for the monsoon session, it has slammed doors on all fish imports for a period of fifteen days.
The decision comes as a resounding slap on the face of those impervious legislators, who, for their vested interests had sided with fish contractors and had slammed the media for exposing the truth. It is because the media raised questions and sought answers at every possible leery move that was made to sweep the whole issue tacitly under the carpet and give this life-threatening imported fish a clean chit, that people remained guarded against the dangers of gulping formalin-laced fish.
It is because of the intense public pressure that our ministers started to take formalin seriously. It was this pressure that forced the CM to intervene, albeit reluctantly. And it was this pressure that forced Fisheries Minister Vinoda Paliencar out of his slumber. Mind you, it took him a good one week to announce that systems will be put in place within the next two weeks to ensure that formalin-free fish is available to Goans, virtually accepting the fact that Goans till now were consuming contaminated fish. Our Fisheries Minister, like several other ministers, has sought time to put systems in place, literally telling Goans that while a plan is being worked out, they can continue to consume this deadly fish.
If Paliencar is a Minister of his words, he should rather walk his talk of December 2017 and curb exports rather than relying on unregulated imports. Goa has a rich harvest of fish of which over 43,000 tonnes is exported. Paliencar also had spoken about cutting subsidies and taxing exports to push more fish into the local markets. All that talk has remained on paper while Goans continued to feast on formalin-contaminated fish.
And for those who are trying to convince Goans that popular fish is not being exported, statistics will expose the bluff. Goa has been exporting mackerels, solar shrimps, cuttlefish, squids, black tiger prawns, crabs, sardines, mackerel, tuna, pomfret, ribbon fish, besides dry fish. None of these names are alien to Goan cuisine. And the export market includes China, United States, UAE, European Union and other destinations.
The formalin episode has struck at the very root of Goenkarponn and has exposed our fragile monitoring systems. We may have copy-pasted the Dubai concept of markets but beyond the cosmetic looks we have not come even marginally close to ensuring the welfare of the consumer vis-Ã -vis quality-testing perishables, the way Dubai does. Vendors there are monitored round-the-clock and penalized even for stocking partly-rotten vegetables, leave aside contaminated ones.
While banning uncontrolled import of fish is a right step, the government must regulate exports as promised, promote traditional fishermen and bring fish back on the platter of the common man.
