Team Herald
Panjim: With thousands of Goan Seafarers and other Non-Resident Goans (NRGs) waiting for their return to the home State, the opposition MLAs have petitioned Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi seeking immediate permission for commissioning of Dabolim International Airport for the repatriation of those stranded abroad.
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In a petition submitted to the PM, via Goa Governor Satya Pal Malik, the MLAs have also demanded for necessary directions to the State government for providing free quarantine facility to the seafarers, on their return to Goa.
Goa Forward Party (GFP) MLAs- Vijai Sardesai, Jayesh Salgaonkar and Vinod Palyekar and Independent Porvorim MLA Rohan Khaunte has made a joint petition to the PM for necessary directions to the National Executive Committee (NEC) and State Executive Committee (SEC) to draw up an immediate rescue plan to bring back all the Goans stuck in foreign countries, whether off-shore or on-shore, and those in distress.
Post the meeting, Sardesai tweeted that their demands are as per the provisions of Indian Health Organisation (IHO) regulations
“The world is in a state of a global public health emergency brought about by an epidemic of an infectious disease caused by a novel coronavirus. India, and Goa, too, has been affected by this pandemic for which the Indian Government under your able leadership has been trying to take effective measures to combat the same,” the petition mentioned.
The petitioners also highlighted the dire situation of thousands of Goan Seafarers and others stranded on foreign shores and lands due to COVID19 pandemic and who face a real threat to their health and lives.
“For the last nearly two months, the seafarers and NRGs through their families, their representative associations and other NGOs as well as political parties and leaders have made numerous petitions to the State and Central authorities requesting to rescue them so as to prevent harm to their health and lives. However, we are pained, to inform you that all these pleas have so far fallen on deaf ears with the result that the desperate situation of these stranded Goans is leading to undue stress, trauma, desperation and tension for them and their families back home in Goa,” it added.
The MLAs claimed that the recent permission granted by the National Executive Committee (NEC) for opening up of the Ports in India for sign-on and sign-off for Merchant ships, though welcome, is of not much consequence to the majority of those stranded Goans abroad as they are waiting for the airports to open up.
“We are given to understand that many of the seafarers’ companies are willing to charter flights to repatriate these stranded Goans and other Indians if the Indian Government permits them to land their charter flights on one or more airports in India. For the Goans stranded abroad and in dire straits the opening up of the Goa International Airport at Dabolim, will be the safest and fastest way to be rescued with the minimum risk of infection or delay,” MLAs said.
As such, the petitioners, requesting that NEC should declare Dabolim international airport and MPT as Ports-of-Entry for the returning overseas Goans, demanded that permission be granted to open the airport for rescue flights.
It has also demanded that directions be issued to SEC not to charge those repatriated or their companies for the quarantine and related expenses and the same be taken care through the State COVID funds.
The petitioners demanded that NEC permit and provide the State with the ICMR approved Xpert-SARS-COV necessary Testing Kits, a confirmatory RTPCR Test which gives results in 45 minutes.
