Cutbona boat owners chief says there’s no presence of health team
TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: Migrant workforce from the states of Jharkhand and Odisha have started descending on the fishing jetties, but there’s no sign of health officials making their presence felt to screen these labourers for malaria and other diseases.
The Cutbona fishing jetty, which is the home for around 180-200 fishing boats, plays host to over 2,000-3,000 migrant labourers during the peak fishing season. Most of these workers hail from the malaria-endemic states of Jharkhand and Odisha, but there’s no system put in place to check and screen these workers.
When Herald contacted the Balli Primary Health Centre, an official said that the health team would visit the jetty. The lady officer pointed out that the Balli health team had made their presence at the jetty in the past and would do so this year too. But she had no answer when pointed out that workers have started reporting at the jetty ahead of the fishing season.
Herald inquires have revealed that nearly 50 per cent of the total manpower requirements for fishing vessels operating from the Cutbona fishing jetty have already arrived at the jetty.
President of Cutbona Boat Owners Union, Seby Cardozo, said that there’s no presence of any health team or officials at the fishing jetty. “We have no problem if the workers are screened by the health authorities. The boat owners are ready to cooperate with the health officials over the screening of workers,” he said.
Incidentally, in Margao and other towns hit by malaria labour contractors are mandated to get their migrants labourers tested. In the alternative, health teams visit the construction sites to take blood samples of the migrant workforce.
However, in the case of fishing jetties, especially at Cutbona and adjoining jetties at Betul, there’s no such system in place, even though the health officials maintained that they carry out screening of the migrant work force every year.
