Postfish ban cabinet fails to find consensus on action plan

  • | Sunday | 22nd July, 2018

On social media, I am being linked to (wholesale fish dealer Maulana) Ibrahim. PANAJI: Nearly 10 days after food and drug administration (FDA) first found formalin in fish imported from other states, the Manohar Parrikar-led government is yet to formulate a concrete action plan to arrest the menace. He has the support of the Goa Forward Party (GFP) and Fatorda voters,” Sardesai said.But the TCP minister also said Rane was free to shift the wholesale fish market to Valpoi and keep it under FDA. He should ensure that exemplary punishment is meted out to those involved after the investigations are completed and taken to their logical conclusion. “The FDA is responsible for the health of Goans and so it should check all food consumables,” he said, adding the agency was under Rane.

PANAJI: Nearly 10 days after food and drug administration (FDA) first found formalin in fish imported from other states, the Manohar Parrikar-led government is yet to formulate a concrete action plan to arrest the menace. Amid public uproar and having failed to justify the statements of its cabinet ministers, the government after a week of finding formalin in fish, decided to ban all imports from other states for 15 days.But what has followed post-ban is what preceded before it. The divergent notes emerging from the cabinet members continued amid a lot of finger-pointing.The latest to join the bandwagon has been revenue minister Rohan Khaunte, who blamed health minister Vishwajit Rane over the “controversy”, and said the raids were ill-timed and had undone whatever the government had achieved since assuming office in 2017.Sources present at a cabinet meeting on Friday told TOI that in the mere 2-minute discussion on formalin in fish issue, Khaunte questioned Rane for conducting the raids in a hurry without taking all the cabinet members into confidence. That Rane had informed chief minister Manohar Parrikar wasn’t enough for Khaunte.Khaunte and Rane’s colleague Vijai Sardesai, who has been under a cloud since formalin was found in fish for his controversial tweet giving all clearance, steered away from commenting whether a permanent ban on imported fish as mooted by the health minister would be the best possible solution.Instead, Sardesai took umbrage at Rane’s comments to TOI on Friday and said he should expose people with “vested interests” and take immediate action against them.“Rane knows his job and is doing his job. He should ensure that exemplary punishment is meted out to those involved after the investigations are completed and taken to their logical conclusion. He has the support of the Goa Forward Party (GFP) and Fatorda voters,” Sardesai said.But the TCP minister also said Rane was free to shift the wholesale fish market to Valpoi and keep it under FDA. “If Rane is interested, let the FDA provide an area of 10,000 sqm to shift the wholesale fish market, where a government project can be taken up that will provide jobs to sons of the soil,” Sardesai said.He said all seven MLAs in Salcete taluka should demand that the wholesale fish market be taken outside Fatorda, adding the people of Fatorda are opposed to the market.The Fatorda MLA also lamented that after the FDA raid, nothing has been done. “The FDA is responsible for the health of Goans and so it should check all food consumables,” he said, adding the agency was under Rane. “They have our cooperation. There is no lack of trust or faith in FDA,” Sardesai said.But in the same breath, he added: “The FDA has created confusion in the minds of the people.” On July 13, Sardesai had squarely blamed the FDA for being involved in shoot and scoot and said he would speak to the chief minister for an independent agency as people seem to have lost faith in FDA.Reacting to allegations that Sardesai was helping the wholesale fish traders, he said once the market is shifted out of Fatorda, the allegations, too, would vanish. “There are attempts to link me to the SGPDA market. On social media, I am being linked to (wholesale fish dealer Maulana) Ibrahim. So, to set doubts to rest, I phoned Margao municipal council (MMC) chairperson Dr Babita Angle Prabhudesai, who has now sought FDA officials conduct an inspection of all food items consumed in Goa.”But on Saturday, Sardesai, after inspecting the SGPDA wholesale fish market, said the Goa state infrastructure development corporation would soon start the first phase of beautification of the market at a cost of Rs 85 lakh and it is expected to be completed by August 3, when the fish import ban comes to an end.

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