GUILHERME ALMEIDA
gilu@herald-goa.com
These and a host of other questions have come to the fore in Velim village as Fisheries Minister, Avertano Furtado’s announcement to set up Rs 28 crore minor fishing harbour at Cutbona jetty has indeed stirred a hornet’s nest amongst the stakeholders and citizens alike.
The Velim Village Panchayat has joined the traditional fishermen in raising questions over the government’s plans for a minor harbour. The panchayat has dashed off a letter dated August 21 to the Fisheries Director Dr Sharmila Monteiro to enlighten and clarify to the people of Velim what’s the proposed minor harbour project all about and come out clean on the issue. “The Panchayat has still not received any correspondence from the Fisheries Department. No sooner the department clarifies on the minor harbour proposal, the same will be placed before the village gram sabha for necessary action”, informed Velim Sarpanch Melvyn Sanches.
Leader of the traditional fishermen and Velim gram sabha member Vinay Tari said the Fisheries Minister’s announcement has left the traditional fishermen confused on the proposed minor harbour. “When the Fisheries Director Dr Sharmila Monteiro had an interaction with Velim villagers in the presence of local MLA Benjamin D’Silva a couple of months ago, she was told that people will not accept anything at the Cutbona fishing jetty, except unloading of fish. We have no objection if a retaining wall is built at the River Sal mouth to ensure smooth navigational channel or extend the existing jetty by 200 metres, but fishermen as well as villagers will not accept any other facility at the jetty”, Tari warned.
In fact, Tari was categorical in his demand that if the boat owners want a minor harbour to meet their requirements, the government can build such a harbour along the coast and leave the Cutbona fishing jetty to the boat owners and fishermen from Velim village.
Says activist Ramona Almeida: “The Fisheries Minister has announced a minor harbour in the Assembly, but the villagers are totally clueless about the project. We want the government to be transparent on the issue. Let the Fisheries Department place the entire proposal before the panchayat and the gram sabha”.
When the Fisheries Director, Dr Sharmila Monteiro was contacted by Herald to shed light on the proposed minor harbour, she tended to allay fears and apprehensions in the minds of the villagers. “Cutbona will gain the status of minor harbour since the government will spend Rs 28 crore on setting up facilities, such as extension of the fishing jetty by 225 metres, a retaining wall at the river mouth and other facilities”, she said.
Aware that the proposal to acquire land admeasuring 30,000 sq mts at the jetty had raised a storm in the village in the past, Monteiro asserted said there’s no proposal at the moment to acquire additional land at Cutbona.
The government’s proposal to set up a minor harbour has come at a time when the traditional fishermen inhabiting the banks of River Sal in Velim village are up in arms over what they call as unregulated fishing activity at the Cutbona jetty. The grievances of the traditional fishermen had echoed at the Velim gram sabha. The fishermen have called for a cap on the number of vessels operating at Cutbona and a ban on fishing vessels beyond the 20-metre length.
