the goan I network
VASCO
Whether coal or wood chips, the Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) has been dogged by controversy over the nature of cargo and now, livestock is the latest cargo to have left activists locking horns with port authorities.
Controversy erupted over the export of 2,500-odd goats and sheep to the Middle East on Tuesday, prompting animal activists to grill authorities for exporting the livestock.
According to reports, the first consignment of around 2,500 goats and sheep were brought from Gujarat to the MPT by trucks in the wee hours of Tuesday morning.
Operations were then underway to load the goats and sheep in a big mechanized sailing vessel “Safina Al Gayatri”, which was already docked in the port after arriving at MPT on Monday
afternoon.
Sources at MPT said all statutory licenses were provided by the exporter and added that the Customs had also cleared the cargo after checking the documents.
However, controversy erupted as news of goats and sheep being shipped from Goa to the Middle East reached animal lovers.
Many animal welfare activists arrived at the MPT gate on Monday evening to intercept the trucks arriving from Gujarat. However the trucks did not arrive on Monday evening and activists left the place.
Though the export of livestock is a first-of-its-kind in MPT, officials of Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBOI) claimed the procedure adopted was illegal and demanded a thorough enquiry in the matter.
On Tuesday morning, AWBOI State Animal Welfare Officer Chandrakant Bhojepatil arrived at the MPT and along with a few other animal lovers, began enquiring about procedures adopted by the exporter with the Customs at Harbour Customs House.
Bhojepatil was made to wait for over four hours at the Customs house, but the wait yielded no results.
Bhojepatil then informed the Mormugao Police and a police team went to the Customs House in take stock of the situation.
However, the police team and Bhojepatil, who had arrived with media persons, were not allowed to enter the Customs House and the officer
on duty refused to entertain any queries.
Customs officers maintained four different statements, which changed over time.
According to sources, a custom officer in the Appraising Department initially said the animals had not been loaded, then changed his statement saying the consignment would not be allowed to exit, before claiming that the goats/sheep had been offloaded and would be taken to a warehouse and would be exported next week.
While these conversations were underway, the ship sailed from the port with the consignment goats/sheep at around 2 pm on Tuesday, further outraging the animal lovers.
The animal lovers claimed that the ship, which was earlier planned to be docked at Berth 10, which is in close proximity to the city, was eventually docked at the barge berth, which is not visible to residents of Vasco, to avoid any controversy or suspicion regarding the cargo.
