Reacting sharply to the recent inspection by the fisheries department at the wholesale fish market, which was conducted along with officials of the FDA, to oversee the quality of fish, the vendors said that the government should first put infrastructure in place and then check the quality of fish. It may be recalled that the Fisheries department and FDA together had collected samples of fish and sent the same for inspection at an FDA lab. The reports are awaited. The fish agents were however upset with the inspection and pointed out the poor condition of the wholesale market. The president of the wholesale fish market association Ibrahim Shaikh said, The present condition of the wholesale fish market is very bad. The uneven ground surface of the fish market results in collecting fish waste which begins to stagnate at the drains. There are no proper drainages in the market and the effluent treatment plant is non functional. Under such a pathetic condition we have the inspection taking place in the market. I can vouch by saying that no preservatives are added and the fish sold at the wholesale market is fresh. Another wholesale fish vendor, Kanta Naik echoed similar views. She said, The fish vendors never add preservatives at the market. We strongly feel that the government should lay more emphasis on cleaning the wholesale fish market rather than focusing on the fish. Shaikh however kept his hopes on the TCP Minister Vijai Sardesai saying that the Minister will keep to his word by constructing a new wholesale fish market in Margao as promised. It may be recalled that the TCP Minister Vijai Sardesai had taken the initiative to develop the wholesale fish market. The minister, while directing the SGPDA to clean and maintain the wholesale market, had promised to level the ground of the market so that the extracts from the fish does not stagnate. When the Fisheries Minister Vinod Palyekar was contacted, he agreed that the wholesale fish market requires upgradation. Palyekar said, Why did we inspect the quality of fish? It is only after the people came to us and complained about the poor quality of fish. We are constructing a new wholesale market from state and central government funds. The process of constructing the Rs 25 crore wholesale fish market will begin within the next six months,” the minister added.