MARGAO
Agitated SGPDA retail vendors on Thursday warned that they would stop paying fees and squat in protest in the SGDPA office building if the authorities fail to crack down on the sale of retail fish in the wholesale fish market.
MLA & SGDPA Chairman Wilfred D’Sa gave a patient hearing to the delegation of SGDPA fish vendors led by president Felix Gonsalves, promising to crack the whip if outsiders are involved in retail sale of fish in the wholesale fish market. The PDA Chairman further told the vendors that the PDA will write to the Margao municipality to stop the retail fish sale along the wholesale fish market road occupied by around 200 vendors throughout the day.
The retail fish vendors called on the PDA Chairman to convey to him the message that their business has suffered in the retail market due to retail sale of fish in the wholesale fish market.
D’Sa called the contractor Milagres Fernandes for a factual position in the wholesale fish market. Heated exchanges ensued between the retail fish vendors and the PDA contractor as both sides made charges and counter charges.
Milagres flatly denied that outsiders are involved in the retail sale of fish in the wholesale fish market. He said only Goan fishermen who have been given permission by the PDA and are allowed to sell fish inside the wholesale up to 9 am.
This was hotly contested by the retail fish vendors. While the vendors maintained that outsiders are allowed to sell retail fish in the wholesale fish market, the contractor said anyone, including the vendors, can make videos and send the same to the chairman.
He said outsiders are selling fish along the wholesale fish market road, adding that it is for the MMC to take action against vendors doing illegal business outside the wholesale fish market.
The PDA chairman said the PDA will place the correspondence made by the retail vendors at the PDA meeting to adopt a permanent mechanism to rule out outsiders from doing illegal retail fish business in the wholesale fish market.
