VASCO
It is certainly something fishy when bitter political rivals decide to unite and this time, it was for the betterment of the fishing community in Vasco on Saturday afternoon.
NCP President and All Goa Fishing Boat Owners Association (AGFBOA) president Jose Philip D'Souza and Vasco MLA Krishna (Daji) Salkar on Saturday convened a joint meeting of the fishing boat owners and subsequently carried out a joint inspection of the Kharewaddo jetty in Vasco.
Fishermen, boat owners, canoe owners and other stakeholders participated in the meeting and put forth their grievances before D'Souza and Salkar.
Many issues plaguing the Kharewaddo fishing jetty were also raised by D'Souza who requested Salkar to place these issues before Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and Fisheries Minister Nilkanth Halarnkar for a permanent solution.
Speaking to reporters, D'Souza said they discussed a lot of issues ranging from the fishing jetty to subsidies and rising fuel prices to lack of facilities at the Vasco fishing jetty.
“As president of AGFBOA, it is my duty to place our issues with the MLA and it is now the responsibility of Salkar to take up our issues and resolve them. We have excellent fishing jetties across Goa but only our fishing jetty is in a dilapidated state.”
“One major issue is that the jetty is too small and cannot accommodate all 200-odd boats at one time because of which most boats have to remain outside after arriving with the fresh catch, sometimes spoiling the fish. We have made several requests in the past and we hope our voices will be heard now," said D'Souza.
Salkar assured to resolve the issues of fishermen and boat owners in Vasco.
"After the inspection, I realised the sad state of the fishing jetty and also understood the real issues faced by fishermen in Vasco. The fishing jetty has been in a sad state for a long time and we need to work out a solution,” said Salkar.
“I have decided to take up their issues with the Chief Minister and fisheries minister and we are confident these issues will be resolved.”
