PORVORIM
The fishing season ended on July 31 but dozens of trawlers are likely to move out of Malim Jetty only by August 15-20, as boat owners await the arrival of their workforce.
But manpower is the least of their problems, as boat owners have constantly deplored poor facilities and infrastructure at the Malim Jetty.
Delayed arrival of workers
Although the fishing ban ended on July 31, most trawlers at Malim Jetty did not sail for fishing on August 1 as workers on the trawlers have not returned from their native places.
When contacted, Mandovi Fishermen Marketing Society Ltd Vice-Chairperson Harshad Dhond stated that around 250 trawlers are operating from the Malim Jetty.
“A majority of these workers on trawlers are from other states. So far, only 5% of our workers have arrived from their native places. Nearly 80% of workers are from Jharkhand and 20% are from Odisha. Hence, trawler owners will not be able to sail their boats immediately.”
“Workers are expected to return by August 15-20. Fishing operations will start from August 20 onwards,” he added.
Poor facilities
Dhond further expressed unhappiness over infrastructure at the Malim Jetty.
“Due to poor infrastructure, trawler owners find it difficult to anchor their trawlers at Malim jetty. There are around 125 big trawlers operating at Malim and these trawlers face problems in anchoring their vessels,” said Dhond.
“The renovation of existing jetty at Malim is going on for the last several years. The new contractor entrusted with the work of renovating the Jetty is doing good work and hence, there is hope that he will complete the work soon.”
“Saligao MLA Kedar Naik provided us with three high masts, which is why there is illumination at the jetty. We are providing employment direct and indirect to 20,000-25,000 people but there is no support from the government whatsoever. In such circumstances, it is very difficult to survive,” Dhond added.
Mandovi Fishermen Marketing Society Ltd Director Sandeep Gayak said the fishing industry is presently reeling under tremendous financial problems.
“The State government has not reimbursed VAT to trawler owners for the last 6 years. They had a meeting with Director of Fisheries Shamila Monteiro on Thursday, who assured to release the pending VAT soon. The industry is fighting for basic survival on all fronts and hence the government should lend them a helping hand in the current situation,” said Gayak.
Gayak further mentioned that Malim Jetty does not get sufficient drinking water supply from the PWD.
“We have requested the PWD several times to release water, but in vain. We require two water tanks of 65,000 litres each to store water. We have requested the Fisheries Department to supply these water tanks to them.”
“Further, the size of the auction shed is small. It becomes very difficult to conduct the auction of the fish. The construction of new auction shed has begun and once the work is completed it will be easy for us to conduct auction of fish,” said Gayak.
He stated that some trawler owners did not operate trawlers due to financial problems.
“The State government should look into the problem of the trawler community with seriousness and resolve them without further delay so as to make this fishing business viable,” Gayak added.
Warning from boat owners
Dhond cautioned that trawler owners will be forced to resort to strike if the government does not provide them financial assistant and improve the infrastructure at Malim Jetty.
“The government recently increased the rent of Malim Jetty from Rs 25 lakh to Rs.37 lakh. The increase of Rs 12 lakh in rent is quite exorbitant. The government has not carried out any dredging at Malim Jetty on account of which the anchoring of trawlers becomes difficult,” said Dhond.
“From all sides, trawler owners are facing problems. If the government does not resolve these problems, trawler owners will be forced to stop operations,” warned Dhond.
