Roque Dias
Margao
In January 2019, following the formalin-in-fish controversy, a state-of-the-art laboratory for testing fish was promised at the sub-office of the Export Inspection Agency (EIA) located at the SGPDA market and was inaugurated by then Union Minister Suresh Prabhu. However, seven years later, the unutilised facility has allegedly turned into an illegal haven for scrap collectors, a waste contractor and other opportunistic elements.
The three-room facility is now allegedly occupied by a waste contractor, a resident of Vasco, who is alleged to have been engaged by SGPDA.
A visit to the site on Wednesday, as well as on several previous occasions, revealed that waste, including cardboard, plastic bottles and other dry waste, was stored in the entrance room. This room is opened only for a few hours when waste needs to be stored and is then promptly locked. The other two rooms were also found locked.
Nearby shopkeepers said that this practice has been ongoing for the past year, a claim which the waste contractor denied.
“A cyclist routinely comes here, stores scrap, and then locks the room before leaving. It is astonishing that such a structure in a bustling market is so easily misused by these individuals while authorities remain oblivious,” said a nearby shop vendor.
“I have locked these two rooms because they were previously misused when left open. I have stored mops and brooms in these rooms,” said the waste contractor, who resides in Vasco, while not clarifying who authorised him to occupy the structure and permit others to do so.
When asked whether he pays any official or individual for the use of the premises, he denied the allegation and said that he would remove all scrap and other items from the structure immediately.
While SGPDA chairman and Vasco MLA Krishna Salkar could not be contacted for comment, a official from SGPDA said that his office had formally requested the Food and Drug Administration to reclaim the structure a year ago due to its misuse.
He said that he had verbally permitted SGPDA waste contractor to store cleaning materials after the facility was cleaned and broken door locks were replaced, but did not clarify whether this decision had the approval of higher authorities.
