MARGAO
Agitated seafarers under the banner of Revolutionary Goans on Thursday demanded an apology from PWD Minister Deepak Pauskar for making derogatory statements against the seafaring community.
While condemning Pauskar’s statement, the seafarers have warned that the seafarers will all come down to Goa around February-March 2022 as a vacation cum election campaign to defeat the government.
Addressing the media at Navelim on Thursday, a group of seafarers under the banner of Revolutionary Goans condemned PWD Minister Deepak Pauskar statement, which they claimed had accused the seafarers as people who have no knowledge of the environment.
“Is the PWD minister trying to say that the seafarers are ignorant and are only shouting without any knowledge about the environment,” Capt Sidney D’Mello said, as he sent a strong message to the minister that the seafarers too are all sons of the soil.
“We want to tell the minister that seafarers are sons of the soil, more hardcore than persons such as him and does not support destruction of the environment,” he added.
Capt Sidney said the minister will be sadly mistaken if he thinks that the seafarers are ignorant, pointing out that most of the seafarers, are either graduates or post-graduate, having made it to the top in their respective fields. “I am sailing as a captain, there are others who are chief engineers and officers. Seafarers are world-class chiefs and are highly educated,” he warned.
The seafarers dared the PWD Minister for a debate with him if he thinks he is better off than the seafaring community, adding that the seafarers have been contributing to protect the environment as part of their duties.
