Departments clash over responsibility at a meeting called by Deputy Collector
Margao Deputy Collector Ganesh Barve chairs a meeting of stakeholders, including Velim MLA Cruz Silva, to take stock of the dengue and cholera situation at the Cutbona fishing jetty.
Photo Credits: Santosh Mirajkar
MARGAO
A meeting called by Deputy Collector Ganesh Barve to take stock of the dengue situation at the Cutbona fishing jetty has exposed chinks in the administrative preparedness in handling the migrant manpower, hygiene and sanitation at the fishing jetty.
For a moment, departments sought to push the blame on each other before it was agreed by representatives of various departments that the Fisheries Department ought to play the role of a nodal agency for the simple reason that not only is it the custodian of the jetty, but the fishing boats and the migrant workers are all registered with the department.
Be it sanitation, hygiene, cleanliness of the jetty, the living conditions of migrant workers, potable water supplied to the jetty, and stalls selling food items, all issues took centre stage at the meeting chaired by the Deputy Collector.
Amongst those who attended the meeting were Velim MLA Cruz Silva, DySP Santosh Desai, Velim Sarpanch Veena Cardozo, Cavelossim Sarpanch Dixon Vaz, social activists Roland Martins, Ramona Almeida, Balli Health Officer Dr Benedita Dias and representatives of agencies.
What came as a big surprise was the fact that none of the agencies were closely monitoring the arrival of the thousands of migrant workers at Cutbona to work on the fishing vessels, their health condition, sanitation available for them and drinking water amenities.
The issue of potable water facility came to the fore during the discussions since the Cutbona fishing jetty and the Mobor fish landing centre have been struck by cholera/diarrhoea, claiming the lives of a couple of workers.
Barve later told the media that the meeting focused on how to contain and arrest the spread of dengue and diarrhoea at the jetty. “We have discussed 2-3 issues today and how to stop the spread of dengue. We have called for an Action Taken Report on the issue of basic sanitation amenities provided to the workers by the boat owners and the fisheries department,” he said.
He stated that the Fisheries Department has been told to share the data of the migrant workers with the Panchayats and health authorities for further action. He said that a joint inspection of the Cutbona jetty will be held next week.
Velim MLA Silva said the spread of dengue and diarrhoea cases at the Cutbona jetty is a big concern. He stressed the need to augment sanitation and hygiene at the jetty to keep the vector-borne diseases at bay.
GOACAN Coordinator Roland Martins said it is the responsibility of the Panchayat to test the water supplied by tankers to the jetty for drinking purposes. “We have been demanding a spruce up of the Cutbona jetty with sanitation amenities, but in vain,” he lamented.
Labour official points finger at Fisheries Department
Officials of the Labour Department washed their hands off the health crisis that has hit the migrant workers at the Cutbona fishing jetty and the Mobor fish landing centre, saying these issues do not come under its domain.
In fact, a Labour official point-blank maintained that the role of the department is very limited in handling the migrant workers working at the jetties. It was pointed out that since the Fisheries Department is the custodian of the fishing jetty, it is the responsibility of the Fisheries officials to act as a nodal agency and work in coordination with other agencies to take care of health, sanitation, hygiene etc of the migrant workers.
“The migrant workers working at the jetties do not come under the labour department since they do not come under the purview of the laws in force,” an official said.
He added: “Under the provision of law, can the Labour Department initiate action? Moreover, the migrant workers are not working on the land, but on fishing vessels in the sea. Our role is limited.”
“If the Fisheries Department registers the migrant workers with Aadhaar and QR code, they should share the data with other agencies including the Health Department and the Panchayats,” he said.
