VASCO
Accusing the government of not being serious about the fishing community in Vasco, Goa Fishing Boat Owners Association (GFBOA) President Jose Philip D’Souza on Tuesday said the proposed state-of-the-art fishing jetty at Vasco bay was only on paper and not in reality.
He added that the existing and dilapidated Kharewaddo fishing jetty, which has around 3,000-4,000 workers, did not even have a toilet facility till boat owners were recently compelled to take up the initiative on their own.
“Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) along with the Central and State governments had planned to develop a state-of-the-art fishing jetty at Vasco bay with all facilities, but it has been five years now and nothing has been done. The foundation stone is also nowhere to be seen,” said D’Souza.
“We have only seen plans of a jetty till date but the reality is different. Whenever questions are raised over a pending project, the government merely says that it is in the pipeline. The government is not interested and serious about grievances of the fishing community.”
D’Souza lamented that there is insufficient space at the existing jetty which is in a dilapidated condition and added there are hardly any facilities.
“Sometimes, we have to keep some boats out in the sea for hours before they can dock their fresh catch of fish because we don’t even have space. In cases of emergency, we keep our boats out in the water to accommodate boats on emergency calls,” said D’Souza.
“The Kharewaddo Jetty did not even have toilet facilities and boat owners were compelled to take up the initiative on their own. It is the government’s duty to provide toilet facilities at fishing jetties.”
“We have around 180 boats with an average of 30 persons working per boat. We did not have toilet facilities for these 3,000-4000 workers and finally we spend our own money from the fishing association and built two toilets for workers and boat owners,” D’Souza said.
