Team Herald
CUNCOLIM: The Chinchinim Panchayat has appealed to the government to bring back all the Goan seafarers stranded overseas on various ships, hotels and other places due to the lockdown.
The demand was made at a special meeting on Sunday chaired by Sarpanch Inacina Rebello. At the meeting, all the panchayat members unanimously resolved to request the State and Central governments to bring back on war footing the seafarers stranded all over the world.
Chinchinim Panchayat has also decided to send a petition to the State and Central governments requesting them to bring back all seafarers stranded overseas.
The panchayat suggested that if the State government does not have a place for quarantining the Goan seafarers, it could use NUSI Maritime Academy at Chinchinim and NUSI Hospital at Cuncolim to quarantine them.
The panchayat also appealed to other panchayats and municipalities to take up this issue with the government.
The Chinchinim meeting observed that the family members of seafarers are worried for the safety of their loved ones and that many had approached the panchayat to take some steps to bring back the seafarers held up in various countries.
Meanwhile, some villagers expressed their anger at State government for not taking seafarers’ issue “seriously”.
“Since last one and half month the seafarers are quarantined on different ships. Some of them are in Coronavirus hotspots. When many countries have air lifted their citizens from the ships and hotels, why the State and Central governments are not acting on this issue?” a villager asked.
