MARGAO
In an interesting development, Fisheries Minister Nilkanth Halarnkar has said the department is open to the question of handing back the Cutbona jetty to the boat owners for management and maintenance.
Visiting the Cutbona fishing jetty on Tuesday, the first since the outbreak of cholera at the jetty prior to August 25, the Fisheries Minister accompanied by Fisheries officials, including newly-appointed Director Yashashwini B, IAS interacted with the boat owners operating from Cutbona.
In a sheer coincidence, Halarnkar’s visit to the Cutbona jetty on Tuesday morning came when Environment Minister Aleixo Sequeira had called for a meeting of officials and stakeholders at the South Goa district collectorate to review the cholera situation at Cutbona.
The Fisheries Minister told the media after his visit that the Fisheries department is open to the question of handing over the Cutbona jetty to the boat owners for management and maintenance. “The Fisheries department had come into play at the Cutbona jetty upon the High Court directions. If the boat owners operating from Cutbona want to manage the jetty like in the past, we can have a meeting on the issue with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant,” he said.
When pointed out that he has visited the Cutbona jetty for the first time after the outbreak of cholera, Halarnkar said Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had visited the jetty and has issued a host of directions, which the department is implementing. “I could not come to the jetty with the Chief Minister since we were having five-day Ganesh Chaturthi. Whatever decisions and directions have been initiated by the Chief Minister is being implemented by the department,” he said.
