the goan I network
MARGAO
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Churchill Alemao on Monday demanded checking of every fish carrying truck into the wholesale fish market for formalin, even as he called for opening of the wholesale fish market for Goan entrepreneurs to do business.
Saying that the president of Wholesale Fish Market Association, M Ibrahim is controlling the fish market, the Benaulim MLA said the government should end the monopoly in the market by allowing Goans to enter into the business.
Addressing the media in the presence of Colva panch Menino Fernandes and Filomena Barretto, Churchill said no truck transporting fish from outside the State should be allowed entry into the wholesale fish market unless certified by the Food and Drugs Administration. “There is panic amongst the fish loving Goans about the quality of fish offered for sale in the wholesale fish market after the FDA had tested positive fish-laced with formalin. It is now the responsibility of the government to ensure that each and every truck carrying fish is allowed entry into the market after being checked by the FDA,” he demanded.
Saying that he had asked then Chief Minister Digambar Kamat to take steps to bring control in the wholesale fish market so that Goans get quality fish, Churchill recalled how Ibrahim was sent to campaign against him in Navelim in the 2012 Assembly election.
He made an appeal to Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar as well as TCP Minister Vijai Sardesai to allow Goans to do business in the wholesale fish market. “Today, the wholesale fish market is controlled by 95 per cent persons hailing from outside the State. Goans have no place in the wholesale fish market. Those who are not registered with the Ibrahim-led Association are not allowed to do business in the market,” Churchill said, making it clear that Goans should face no obstacles to trade in the wholesale fish business.
“Just because there are no Goans in the market, the price is manipulated to suit the interest of the unscrupulous wholesalers,” he said, while appealing to the government to allow entry of local people in the wholesale fish business.
