The President of Goa Barge Owners’Association, Atul Jadhav has no objection and is ever ready to register barges owned by exporters. He has also accepted government’s decision to install tracking devices to keep a watch on the mining trail. Here are excerpts of his interview with The Goan
TheGoan: IsGoa Barge Owners Association willing to register the barges owned by theexporters?
AtulJadhav: Yes, of course. Some of the exporterswho own barges are already our members. We are ready to co-operate and have noobjection.
TG:Whatabout the barges of those companies that are not registered in Goa?
AJ:Some of our members have registered theircompanies outside Goa, so their barges are not allowed to operate in Goanwaters as per a recent government order.
TG:Whatare your registration charges for barges? And the rate of the barge trips?
AJ:For a barge to get registered with GBOA, we charge Rs 2000 for 1000 tonnes andRs 4000 for 2000 tonnes, per year. The barge may make any number of trips. Thefees are for the whole year.
The average tonnage of the barge is1478. The rate is fixed on 123 trips divided by 1478. It also depends on thepetrol/diesel prices and VDA (variable dearness allowance) that changes fromtime to time.
TG:What is your say on the tracking system?
AJ:The monitoring system needs to betransparent and flawless. The information where the barge is loaded and whereit is going should be accurate. People who are stake holders must have trackingsystem. GBOA already has a system. We carry a custom’s boat note. When thecargo is transported from the mines to the ship for export, a boat note isgiven to us. After we take our load from the jetty, unless our loading officerproduces this note at berth no 9 the cargo is not unloaded or transferred tothe trans-shipper/crane/ship.
TG:Are you willing to be a part of thetracking system?
AJ:Yes, why not? Actually there is no needto track the barges. We are not afraid as there is no other destination for thecargo to go from the barges. But they have to create some documentation at thejetty which will show that we are carrying cargo from so and so jetty to so andso destination. The quantification of the material should be notified and amaster at the point should authenticate to the master of the ship. They have totally how many barges have unloaded at berth no 9.
TG:Wouldit be cost effective?
AJ:AIS is central government requirement.Tracking and VHF (Variable High Frequency Radio or Walky Talky) is stategovernment requirement.
The tracking device costs Rs 10,000while the AIS would cost Rs 60,000. But GBOA is of the opinion that the trackingdevice is a welcome step, it would bring more transparency in the system.
