MARGAO
The SGPDA wholesale fish market witnessed an uproar in the wee hours of Tuesday after a group of hoteliers demanded to see the fish testing conducted at the market to check the efficacy of the tests.
The Fatorda police made its presence felt at the fish testing laboratory in the market after the hoteliers and officials of the Quality Council of India (QCI) came face to face over the fish testing. While the hoteliers demanded to see the efficacy of the fish testing, the QCI officials rejected the demand on the plea that the protocol in place does not permit the staff to conduct the tests in the presence of the public.
The hoteliers also demanded to know whether the staff manning the fish testing laboratory had the requisite educational qualifications to conduct the exercise. “We just wanted to see how the staff are conducting the tests to detect formalin. We wanted to know what the test was all about and whether they were eligible to conduct the tests”, the hotelier said.
They also raised the question how the staff manning the laboratory is disposing off the fish brought for testing from the fishing transporting trucks in the PDA market, pointing out that the fish tested at the laboratory is never returned to the traders or fishermen.
“We just wanted to find out why the staff manning the laboratory is not allowing the public to have a look at the tests conducted inside the lab. We wanted to know how they carry out the formalin test, whether there is natural formalin or it is added to the fish. Finally, we purchase fish from the wholesale fish market before it is being served to our customers. We wanted to have a look at the efficacy of testing so that the entire process is full proof”, the hotelier added.
Officials of QCI, however, rejected all request from the hoteliers to allow them to witness the testing, saying it goes against the protocol. Heated arguments ensued between the officials and the persons demanding to see the fish testing, before the Fatorda police made its presence felt at the site.
PSI Amin Naik told the hoteliers that no person has the right to obstruct the officials from doing the work, saying they can lodge a complaint with the police if they have any problem with the fish testing exercise.
