the goan I network
MARGAO
Wholesale fish traders have cried foul over the latest FDA action of not allowing insulated fish carrying vehicles into the State, saying the action smacks of discrimination against the fish traders with an agenda to stop the entry of imported fish into the State.
President of the Wholesale Fish Market Association Maulana Ibrahim alleged harassment at the hands of the FDA, saying the agency whose brief is to test the quality of fish appears more interested in finding out whether the traders possess the trade licence. “The SGPDA has issued a common NOC for the wholesale fish association, boat owners association and the traditional fishermen to assemble and conduct business in the wholesale fish market. Sadly, the FDA is insisting on the trade licence from the wholesale fish traders, while making no such demand vis-Ã -vis the remaining two operators,” Ibrahim said.
He pointed out that the FDA is not ready to understand that the fish traders cannot produce the trade licence from the Margao Municipality for the simple reason that the civic body does not consider the fish business as a trade. “The MMC officials have told us that the place where we conduct business is not a closed premises to treat it as trade. Hence, we are unable to get the trade licence from the Margao Municipality,” he said, while saying the traders are already in possession of the SGPDA common NOC.
“Why is the FDA not allowing us to sell fish after conducting tests at the PDA market. The agency is only insisting on the trade licence knowing well that the MMC cannot issue the trade licence because the place of business is an open space and not a closed premise. If the trade licence is mandatory to carry on the business in the SGPDA market, why is the same yardstick applied to the boat owners and the traditional fishermen,” he demanded to know, adding ‘barring the MMC trade licence, the wholesale fish traders have complied all the conditions, right from the insulated vehicles and PDA NOC’.
Saying that Health Minister Vishwajit Rane makes time to discuss the issue with Ministers and MLAs from Karnataka instead of the stakeholder, which consists of the wholesale fish traders, Ibrahim lamented that Rane has till date not called the wholesalers for discussions on the issue.
“If the Health Minister and the FDA is really interested in resolving the issue, they should carry strict checking of all fish entering the wholesale fish market instead of making an issue on the trade licence,” he said, adding ‘confiscate any vehicle and arrest the owners if any incident of preservatives comes to light during the tests’.
