Margao’s wholesale fish vendors want hourly fee scrapped

MARGAO: Traditional fish operators on Tuesday appealed to the South Goa Planning and Development Authority (SGPDA) to do away with the hourly fees being charged to vendors. The SGPDA asked the stakeholders to come up with a proposal.
Chairperson and Vasco MLA Daji Salkar said the decision to charge small vehicles Rs 300 per hour and bigger vehicles Rs 500 an hour to conduct their operations at the wholesale market was taken in 2020.
Salkar said that as a special case SGPDA can give a discount on the hourly rates but cannot entirely drop the fee because the vehicles will remain at the market the entire day leading to congestion .
The new wholesale fish market is under construction and fish operators are functioning from a small space.
Olencio Simoes representing the traditional fishing community said that the hourly fees starting from Rs 300 are too high and requested that the hourly restrictions be removed. “Which market across Maharashtra and Karnataka charge locals such fees?” he asked. The fishing community also travels from Betul he said, adding that they will find it difficult to make a profit by paying such high fees.
Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai said that the SGPDA asked the fishing community to set an upper limit on the time they can spend in the wholesale market before they exit and make way for others, but there was no consensus on the issue.
Other issues discussed at the meeting were temporary repairs required for the Usgao market, tendering of the wholesale fish market and getting more income from the retail market. Salkar said stakeholders at the retail market will be taken into confidence and they will be provided better maintenance for a higher fee.