the goan I network
MARGAO
A 44-year old Niz Goemkar, a seafarer by profession, on Wednesday, had to face the bitter prospect of being evicted out of his state if he did not agree to paid quarantine after his inability to pay for it had no takers in the administration.
If his close relatives are to be believed, the young seafarer, had to take a quick call on Wednesday morning when the escort party point-blank told him to either pay for his quarantine or face the prospect of being taken back to the Patradevi border, ostensibly to be sent back to Mumbai.
Left with no option, the seafarer decided to check in the quarantine hotel at Panaji, first to facilitate the cab driver to cross the border and head to Mumbai as per the permit condition.
A close relative told The Goan the seafarer entered the Goa border at Patradevi on Wednesday morning, only to be told that he would have to undergo 14 days quarantine. “He had no problem in undergoing quarantine as per the protocol. But, he expressed his inability to pay Rs 3000 per day since his company had already paid quarantine charges amounting to Rs one lakh at Mumbai for 30-day quarantine,” his relative said.
The relative added: “When the seafarer expressed his inability to pay, he was taken to a quarantine centre at Old Goa. When the people at Old Goa told the escort that the name of the seafarer does not find a mention in the list, he was told to go back to the Panaji hotel. On the way, the escort told the seafarer to either pay for quarantine or he and his cab will be taken back to Patradevi.”
The seafarer had signed off from his ship on March 19 and had to undergo quarantine at the JNPT and later at a Mumbai Guest House during the lockdown period. “The seafarer was not in a position to ask his company to bear the quarantine charges in Goa when it has already paid for it in Mumbai,” the relative added.
For the moment, the seafarer is waiting for the health officials to conduct a Covid test on him and the question whether he will have to cough up the quarantine charges or not will be known on Thursday.
When The Goan called senior officer P S Reddy to shed light on the episode, he was quick to say that his brief is to only look into the issues of seafarers who have returned from Marella Discovery.
Health officials, however, said anyone who returns home to Goa, whether seafarer or not, is required to undergo the mandatory 14 days quarantine, but had no answer to questions that people are forced to cough up money to pay the quarantine charges.
