A local resident Seby Cardozo, however, cried foul over the inspection, demanding that the authorities ought to have conducted a surprise inspection of the locality. He raised an uproar saying the migrants have disappeared from the locality in view of the inspection, demanding the shifting of the net mending sheds and the migrants. “We cannot find the migrant workforce here today. They must have been told not to report to the locality in view of the inspection. Residents hope that the absence of the migrant workers will continue in the future too,” Seby told Deputy Collector, Sangeeta Naik.
Local residents had been demanding shifting of the net mending sheds of both the local and outside boat owners after dengue raised its ugly head in Cutbona last year, claiming the life of a young woman. The demand was repeatedly placed before the Velim gram sabha with a petition signed by an overwhelming majority of the local residents.
After the inspection, Sangeeta Naik said the inspection carried out by the department of fisheries, health and the Goa State Pollution Control Board will prepare a factual report on the sanitation and presence of migrants. “The department of health, fisheries and GSPCB will give their inputs of the inspection, which will be compiled before submitting a detailed report to the district collector,” Sangeeta told the media after the inspection.
Velim MLA Benjamin D’Silva said the inspection demanded by the local residents is indeed a good initiative and sought cooperation of the people to make it successful. He said the inspection report would be placed before the Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar for further action.
Velim sarpanch Melvyn Sanches said the inspection was delayed not because of any ulterior motive, but because of the delay by the GSPCB to reach the jetty.
