Cutbona jetty extended portion playing host to junk. Was this the intended objective behind extending the Cutbona fishing jetty half a decade ago?
Has the Directorate of Fisheries forgotten to commission or put to effective use the extended portion of the Cutbona fishing jetty, Goa’s biggest fishing hub? Well, pose the question to Fisheries Director Dr Shamila Monteiro and pat comes a reply that the entire Cutbona fishing jetty, including the extended portion, is put to effective use to cater to the growing requirements of mechanized fishing industry.
Boat owners, operating from the Cutbona jetty, however, beg to differ. In fact, boat owners claim that the Fisheries department has completely forgotten to effectively utilize the 220 metres of the extended portion of the Cutbona fishing jetty. They claim that extended portion of the fishing jetty has not been inaugurated till date though work on the project was completed around half a decade ago.
A visit to the Cutbona fishing jetty indeed throws up a host of questions, more so with the Fisheries Director making a strong claim that the extended jetty portion has been thrown open for the fishing vessels.
In fact, scrap and junk has been found dumped on the extended portion of the Cutbona fishing jetty. Fishing nets, plastic crates et al were all found dumped and covered on the jetty, leaving the boat owners to ask a simple question – whether the 220 metres new jetty was built for the purpose of storage of junk items or for the fishing vessels to berth and unload fish catch.
Former President of the Cutbona Boat Owners Union Cypriano Cardozo asserted that the extended portion of the Cutbona fishing jetty has neither been formally inaugurated nor put to effective use for the boat owners.
“Anyone with the naked eye can see the state of affairs on the new fishing jetty. If the fisheries department claims that the 220 metre new jetty is put to use, we would like to know if the extended portion of the jetty was built for the storage of junk items and fishing nets”, he said.
Former Boat Owners president Savio D’Silva has echoed similar sentiments. “We are all operating from the Cutbona fishing jetty and we have not come across the extended jetty portion inaugurated or put to effective use till date”, he said.
He added: “I was the Sarpanch of Velim village Panchayat during the last term. But, the extended jetty portion was never inaugurated or commissioned. We sometimes wonder whether the extended jetty portion is destined to play host to junk, including nets and fish crates”.
Chairman of the Cutbona fisheries society Vinay Tari said boat owners operating from the Cutbona fishing jetty are tired and exhausted of demanding commissioning of the extended jetty portion.
“It is evident that the fisheries department has forgotten to inaugurate or to put the extended jetty portion to use. The extended jetty is not a jetty, but has been converted into a junk dump. This is surprising when vessels are facing space constraints at the jetty”, Tari said.
