The outrage that accompanied the news that a spot test had discovered formalin in the fish, has died down, but the fear that this practice continues remains. A clear indication that the buyers are not buying the government’s assurance that the fish is formalin free comes from the fish vedors themselves who claim that sales have dropped since then – in some cases to even half of what it used to be.
Across the State fish markets have been feeling the brunt of this. From the north in Pernem, where there are reports that hardly any vehicles transporting fish enter via the Patradevi checkpost to Polem in the South, where checking facilities have been set up, fish sales have taken a dip and most markets wear a deserted look. The reason is that the fish consumers are not yet convinced that the fish is absolutely free of chemicals. The only manner that the government could have convinced the people that the fish was free of any chemical additive is by having testing facilities at the markets.
This was promised, especially in Margao where the spot fish test had shown the presence of formalin, but a year later the laboratory is not yet in place. Currently, fish is being tested at the borders as it arrives from other States, but these are random checks, and almost all the trucks have been cleared. Last month, after the annual monsoon fishing ban came into being, three trucks carrying fish were sent back, not because any chemical additive was discovered in the consignment, but because the vehicles did not meet the guidelines imposed by the State Food and Drugs Administration.
We are coming to the end of another monsoon fishing ban period – the State is just 10 days away from the date when the local mechanised fishing boats will be allowed to return to the sea – but the progress made on the formalin testing facility is untenable. Aside from the announcements, and the unveiling by a Union Minister of the plaque to the site where the office and laboratory of the Export Inspection Agency of the Export Inspection Council would be set up by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. That was in January this year, and that’s where the issue now stands.
The government has indeed taken this issue of formalin in fish very casually. The issue took more of a political angle as politicians jostled to score brownie points, rather than engaging in finding long term solutions. A ban on fish entering the State from other States, guidelines from the FDA were the knee-jerk reactions, from which there has been no way forward. This fear exists because even last year it was more of politics than actual solutions that were forthcoming. If the small traders have suffered the most in the trade, than the consumers too have been in the dock.
Herald travelled across the State to fish markets to verify if testing facilities were in place in any of them. The reports can be read in our Review section. You don’t really require to speak to the peopl in the State to learn their views. The deserted markets yell out the fact that there is no confidence in the government testing facilities. The only manner by which the people will change their view is by acting fast and putting the testing facilities in place.
