Team Herald
MARGAO: Even as Nationalist Congress Party MLA Churchill Alemao wondered why the prime minister is not acting on the demand to bring back Goan seafarers stranded on their vessels, South Goa MP Francisco Sardinha said the lockdown and fact that they are scattered is the problem.
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Disclosing that he had written a letter to the prime minister about this problem on March 29, Alemao lamented that till date no action has been taken even though he had sent copies of the letter to Home Minister and External Affairs Minister besides the NRI commissioner.
Pointing out that he was a seafarer having worked on a ship for 15 years, he said he understands the problems faced by the seafarers and also the problems they are facing now when they can only contact people over the phone.
Alemao argued that due to the cold climate in USA and Europe everyday around thousand deaths occur there and that the warm climate of Goa will help the seafarers avoid the disease and also recover quickly if they are already infected.
He admitted having met the chief minister on Tuesday to discuss the same issue and disclosed that the Dr Pramod Sawant has been phoning the prime minister twice a day.
“However, the chief minister does not have powers and it is only the prime minister who can give the order,” he said.
He said that the Goan seafarers could have been brought home by the empty flights that arrived in Goa from Germany and UK to take back their nationals who were stranded in Goa and pleaded with the prime minister to intervene in the matter immediately.
However, Francisco Sardinha disclosing that he had discussed this issue with the External Affairs Minister and said the worldwide lockdown is one problem why the seafarers cannot be brought back, but more than that they are scattered at different places in the world is causing a logistical problem.
Meanwhile, Congress MLA Luizinho Faleiro, in a letter to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged his intervention for safe return of over 7,000 Goan seafarers, who are stranded overseas in view of COVID-19 outbreak worldwide.
In his letter, Faleiro has also requested the PM to ensure that adequate testing and quarantine facilities are put in place for these seafarers on their return to Goa.
