Demands that licences of traders who have not complied with formalities be cancelled; Says retail fish markets are deserted as people fear formalin is used to preserve fish
Team Herald
PANJIM: Coming down heavily on the government, of which he is a part, Town and Country Planning Minister Vijai Sardesai on Thursday, not only reiterated his demand for a temporary ban on import of fish but demanded that licences of the fish traders who have not got themselves registered with FDA must be cancelled.
Speaking exclusively to Herald, Sardesai, referring to the decision to give the fish traders an additional 15 days to get themselves registered, said, “It has been alleged that I am backing the fish traders. I am now saying clamp down on them. If they are not able to give documentary evidence of their licence, cancel their licences. If they have not complied with the FDA rules, cancel the licences. Why are you adjusting them again? Why are they being accommodated? Let them come with everything clear.”
Health Minister Vishwajit Rane had earlier in the day said that the fish traders would be given an additional 15 days to register.
Saying that it is time for the government to take drastic steps so as to rebuild the confidence of the people, Sardesai stated, “We have tried to dispel the fears of formalin being laced in the fish, but over time we have not succeeded, not even in the most posh of fish markets, so I am calling for a ban on import of fish until such time that there are systems in place to check the fish.”
Hitting out at the government, he said, “Government should come clean and I am for getting probity in this matter, ban import, stop traders, put the systems in place. The confidence building measure should be strict action against the alleged defaulters.”
He said that while a ban is an extreme step, and could be seen as kneejerk reaction, he felt that it was no longer such a reaction as the issue has been going on for months and people are still not convinced on the matter.
Speaking further on this, the minister said, “When the Centre is funding the establishment of the agency, the State should supplement it with clear action on the ground. When I met the CM in Delhi, and also here before I left to see the BJP National president, I had suggested that we have got to take this drastic step to rebuild the confidence of the people.” He added that he had also conveyed this to the CM now through his secretary Upendra Joshi.
Sardesai said he was speaking for the people. “I have tried my best to see that the people buy fish in the best market place in the country. But people are not visiting the market to buy fish. I go to the beach for a morning walk, and I see people buying fish from the traditional fish vendors.”
He also said that the agency should be set up in Margao, as this was the epicentre of the entire issue. He sought that a laboratory be set up in the retail or wholesale market.
Earlier, speaking at the inauguration of a three-day National Conference organised by Maharashtra Society of Agriculture Economic on ‘Agro-Tourism, Doubling of Farmers Income, Economics of Production and marketing of Cashew and Coconuts’, Sardesai said, “How safe is the food that we eat? Today, we are discussing this issue in Goa. It has become a big issue.”
“Our staple diet is fish and we used to get it from the East Coast when there is ban on fishing on the Western Coast (during monsoons),” he said. “That fish which was imported from East Coast was supposedly laced with formaldehyde (chemical) which is used as a preservative. It (preservative) is also carcinogenic,” Sardesai said.
“Today, in Goa the retail fish markets, especially in the area where I stay, are deserted,” the minister said. “I built a fish market which was visited by Bombay Municipal Corporation and they wanted to adopt this model. We copied the model from Dubai. That fish market has given best facility to retail fish vendors. But nobody is coming now because there is fear,” Sardesai said.
Sardesai said that the State government had approached Union Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu and urged that Quality Council of India, which actually overlooks the exports which leaves from India and goes to the countries like European Union, where there are strict regulations, that should be brought here in Goa.
“Prabhu has promised us. As and when the laboratory comes, till then, I am of the opinion that we have to ban imports because safety of food is an issue, whether the food that we are consuming is food or poison has now become a question,” he said.
