MARGAO: The death of Mansley Pereira from Chinchinim has refreshed the memories of the last 3 years, which has seen a spike in cases of deaths, missing and distressed seamen while onboard or living abroad. There have also been cases with Non Resident Indians (NRIs) where families back in Goa have had trouble reaching out.
Senior Goan seamen have said that NRI Affairs in Goa is not well equipped to handle issues and hence have requested linking of NRI Affairs Goa with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) so that the families get a chance to pursue the matters of their loved ones and get justice.
For the last 3 years, there have been at least 4 cases of seafarers from across Goa, where they have been reported as either missing from the ship, died on board, drowned or caught up in distressed ships.
The recent case of death of Mansley Pereira from Chinchinim, Garu Naik from Curchorem who was living in Abbasia was found dead in his room, seafarer from Margao who died on in 2017, Deepak Gad from Velim has been missing from Carnival Ship and a person working as Chief Cook on a Cargo ship and hailing from Assolna has gone missing while on board last year. There is also the case of Symron Almeida from Cuncolim who has been missing for nearly 2 years now from the ship he worked in.
Herald had inadvertently reported Symron Almeida as ‘dead’ in its September 23rd edition, instead of missing. Herald clarifies that Symron has been missing since November 2017.
In these and several other such cases, the families of the seamen or NRIs who are in distress have not been getting the support and information regarding the incidents that their beloved ones faced. The bodies of deceased seamen come after 30 or 40 days without any proper details from the companies that hire them, about the investigation and reasons for death. Govind Naik, who is holed up in the arrested seized vessel in Iran is struggling with uncertainties even as we speak.
Goa Seamen Association of India (GSAI) spokesperson Dixon Vaz, said “The NRI Department of Goa really needs to be better equipped. We have been asking for it for the last 10 years as they are not able to handle the families of seamen, their questions and their distress” he said.
He further mentioned that there are several young lives missing and dead with no serious investigation and justice in the same.
He also said that GSAI has been working hard to make sure that the seamen of Goa get their due rights and their families their due support in case of distress.
