the goan I network
MARGAO
The Cutbona fishing jetty has been in the news for a host of reasons “ be it the taking over of the jetty by the Fisheries department to problems of auctioning of fish and shortlisting of the fish agents.
Will the Fisheries department or the boat owners get the thousands of migrant workforce that have descended at the jetty for screening of vector borne diseases, including dengue and malaria at the counter set up by the Health department at the fishing jetty?
This question has come to the fore as a lone health worker manning the counter at the jetty has till date not received a single migrant worker to undergo the screening test for dengue and malaria. Set up by the Primary Health Centre, Balli, which has jurisdiction over the Cutbona fishing jetty, the counter is manned by a lone health worker.
“The lone worker has the wherewithal to screen 20-30 workers in a day. The health services is ready to draft additional manpower to carry out the screening, but not a single worker has turned up so far for the screening”, informed Balli Primary health sanitation officer Tulsidas Naik.
He said the counter set up at Cutbona jetty is manned by a lone personnel for the moment since the health centre is attending to calls of vector borne diseases in areas within the jurisdiction of the centre.
If the sanitation officer is to be believed, the Balli health centre had dispatched a letter to the Fisheries department underlining the need to get the migrant workers descending at the Cutbona fishing jetty for screening, but in vain.
Sub-divisional Magistrate, Margao Uday Prabhudesai told The Goan that he had issued directions to the Fisheries department at the last date of hearing to fix the sanitation issues at the Cutbona jetty.
He, however, lamented that the Fisheries department has not resolved the issues, even as he promised to convene a meeting with the Fisheries officials and the stake holders to resolve the issue.
What’s interesting to note is that though the deadly dengue has raised its ugly head at the Cutbona fishing jetty even before the commencement of the new fishing season, it did not spur the concerned authorities, including the Fisheries department, the boat owners and the district authorities, to get the boat owners to bring their workers for the mandatory screening at the counter.
