Attributing the change in the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) by the State government and the repatriation of Indian seafarers to the mounting pressure from the shipping industry, associations and unions, the Goan Seamen Association of India (GSAI) said that there is still more work to be done.
GSAI president Frank Viegas added that now the govt should extend their hand to the small shipping companies and ships where Goans as well as Indian seafarers are still stranded on.
“There are several companies which can’t afford to have charter flights hence we request the government to provide the facility to repatriate the seafarers still stranded abroad,” Frank added.
He further stated that there are at least four thousand seafarers who are still stuck abroad and need to return home.
GSAI leader Venzy Viegas also pointed out to faults with the new SOP and criticised the government for lacking the vision to address the issues.
While acknowledging that the medical team has been working very hard, he felt the government has not augmented the health infrastructure to meet the present requirements and thus the test results are not obtained within 48 hours. Referring to this as the ground reality, he said that the test results sometimes takes six to seven days and until that time the persons have to stay under paid quarantine. He opined that while it looks very appealing it is another turning lollipop given the amount of time the seafarers or others will have to stay under paid quarantine in any case. He added that testing and the number of medical teams sent for the same should be increased in order to bring down the amount of time needed for the COVID-19 tests to come back.
