CUTBONA: The deserted Cutbona jetty will soon burst into a flurry of fishing activities and with that the unsolved disputes of the fishing community that were dormant during the fishing ban period would once again engulf the jetty.
There is a growing resentment among the fishing community that the fisheries department failed to resolve these issues before the end of the fishing ban.
The unsolved issues include use of LED lights, diesel subsidies, upgradation of the jetty, fishing ban violations by traditional fishermen and confusion over plans to transfer ownership of the jetties to societies.
The biggest issue is the ongoing rift between the boat owners and purse seiners. Tough times are ahead for Fisheries Minister Avertano Furtado and local MLA Benjamin Silva to settle the internal disputes of the fishing community.
The second major issue is the Cutbona Boat Owner Association’s opposition to the government’s plans to hand over the jetty rights to the Cutbona Fishermen Co-Operative Society.
To improve the infrastructure of the jetty, the government wants to upgrade the status of Cutbona Jetty to mini-harbour. This upgradation, according to the government, would bring in Central government funds for developing the infrastructure. However, the local traditional fishermen have been opposing the same.
Recently, the traditional fishermen along with the boat owners had held a meeting and raised their concerns about the harbour project. They had conveyed their concerns to Velim MLA Benjamin Silva, a purse seiner himself. The fisheries department has told them that this project is not a mini-harbour but just an extension of Jetty.
The boat owners have also demanded for boat pulling crane facility and have conveyed this demand to the fisheries department repeatedly as they want the government to provide the crane facility against the backdrop of private players having such a facility.
When this reporter visited Cutbona jetty, he found that the preparation for the fishing season was complete and that boat owners were ready to venture into sea. Final repairs of boats are going on.
A boat owner said that there may be a delay in starting the new season due to unavailability of labourers, while some boat owners will be waiting for Narli pornina to begin their business. The fishermen are expecting good catch this season.
On the issue of construction of toilets, the boat owners say that it was the fisheries department that was supposed to construct the toilets that has not been done. The health centre has started screening of labourers and they will continue the exercise in the weeks to come.
