the goan I network
MARGAO
The formalin scare has come to haunt the fish vendors again with retail fish business hit hard at the moment and vendors questioning the appeal made by Benaulim MLA Churchill Alemao to the people of Goa not to consume fish during the two-month ban on fishing.
Claiming that the fish business has hit a low with politicians raking up the formalin in fish row without any substance, the vendors said if politicians are indeed serious about the health of the citizens, they should use their good offices to get the FDA test the fish at the wholesale fish market and retail markets to rule out formalin.
President of the Margao Retail Fish Vendors Association Felix Gonsalves said Churchill ought to have called the FDA officials either at the wholesale fish market and Margao retail market to get the fish tested by FDA in the presence of the media and the NGO to set things right. “Public confidence in the fish sold in the markets would have gone high if the fish is tested publicly. Churchill’s statement has only spread the scare on the fish sold in the markets, keeping the customers away from the markets,” he said.
Saying that fish vendors eke a living by selling fish in the markets after procuring the fish from the wholesale fish market, Felix pointed out that the government should start testing fish in the wholesale fish market, adding ‘those who are responsible for lacing the fish with formalin should be booked’.
A vendor Fatima Cardozo also echoed similar sentiments, saying the vendors are also concerned about the health and safety of the people. “If people such as Churchill feel that the fish is laced with formalin, he should get it tested in the markets. He cannot make statements urging the people to stop eating fish. Not all fish that is sold in the market comes from across the border or from the fish processing units. The retail markets have received good quantity of fish from Cansaulim in the last three days. By giving a call to the people to stop consuming fish, people are confused whether they should also stop eating fish netted by our traditional fishermen,” Fatima questioned.
The fish vendors claimed that their business had picked up in recent times after last year’s massive controversy over formalin, only to again hit a low over the recent statements by the political class.
