The saga on the formalin-laced fish issue does not end. It just carries on, taking twists and turns, meandering along and arriving at no conclusion. There is now an inquiry into why the spot test was conducted using the Schiff reagent process. The government has only now stated that the Schiff Reagent Test conducted on the morning of July 12 is not valid, because it is meant to test all types of aldehydes and not just formaldehyde. This announcement so many weeks after the test gives rise to various questions. Why did the government wait until September 24, over two months after the test was conducted, to announce that the Schiff Reagent Test is ‘not a validated’ test? Didn’t it know this on July 12 itself or realise this the next day? Coming so late, it gives the feeling that there is a cover-up taking place.
But, prime among all the questions: This was an FDA team that went to the Margao fish market, so why was this government team sent to conduct a test on fish using a process that is ‘not validated’? Surely this team didn’t go to the fish market without the knowledge of the Director of the FDA. Yes, it would be interesting to know who ordered the Schiff Reagent Test on the fish samples. But is there need for an inquiry to learn this? Wouldn’t a simple question to the FDA Director suffice? Goa’s experience with inquiries is that they take their own time to arrive at a ‘conclusion’ that often is not ‘conclusive’, but leave doubts that require another inquiry to clear them. In short, inquiries are nothing short of time wasting tactics, and that’s what we have learnt through experience.
The government has further announced that the samples should have been sent to the FDA laboratory for testing. Question: If that is so, were the samples of imported fish tested using the CIFT testing kits at the border check posts once the ban on inter State movement of fish was lifted, sent to the FDA laboratory or was the fish cleared for consumption at the border itself? Wasn’t there need to send these samples to the laboratory? The strips test that was demonstrated at the Margao SGPDA market in the presence of the Health Minister all turned out negative, so there wasn’t need to send the samples to the laboratory. What if any sample had turned out positive? Then would it be sent to the laboratory for confirmation?
There has to be clarity on the formalin in fish issue. It is over two months now since Goa learnt that the fish it consumes could have been preserved with formalin, and it is still not clear on this, as political parties spar on the issue but bring no closure to it. Yet, in the sparring, there is some truth in what the Congress says, and it is what Herald has pointed to in the past. There is a delay of eight to ten days from the time the fish is caught at sea and finally reaches the retail market. The fish bought in the market is not frozen solid, it is soft and any buyer will have experienced the vendor turning up the gills to prove the freshness of the fish. How then, does the fish remain fresh? If this can be explained, then perhaps can Goans begin to believe that there are no chemical additives used to preserve the fish.
For now, there is little hope that we in Goa will learn the entire truth behind the formalin in fish issue any time soon. It will probably take a few more months before it is all made clear.
