BY JOAO SOUSA M | NT NETWORK
PANAJI: The dormant marine slipway at Penha de France will buzz with activities again this October after lying in hibernation for over three and half decades as the Captain of Ports has commenced constructing a new jetty around it. However, works for repairing ships, barges etc at the slipway may still take some time.

The new jetty is currently being constructed by the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation at a cost of ` 3.5 crore and will be the main anchorage for  all vessels of Captain of Ports and the Marine Police Force. The jetty, whose construction has been taken up by the department for providing better port facilities, is expected to be commissioned by October-end.
Over the last three decades the state government has lost crore of rupees for not putting the slipway into use. The government also lost the money spent on the construction of the slipway and repairing it. 
Investigations have revealed that the fisheries department had paid some Rs 25 lakh to a Delhi-based company over the slipway. However, the figures could not be confirmed as all the important files pertaining to the tendering and construction of the slipway have gone missing.
The construction of the slipway by the Delhi-based company had started between 1972 and 1974 to repair fishing vessels which were mostly of wood. However, the slipway could not be operated as the motor installed at it could not take the load of the trolley, a metallic frame which is lowered during high tide for the vessel to rest on. Later it was pulled into the slipway for repairs.
It is learnt that the motor fixed was of a lower capacity and could not take the load of the trolley as the framework was too heavy, which resulted in the slipway being abandoned by the fisheries department. After abandoning the slipway for some years, the fisheries department handed it over to the Captain of Ports in the early 1990s and transferred the 20-odd personnel.
The slipway was handed over to the Captain of Ports with tonnes of scrap material  lying in the dry dock, a testimony to the fact that the slipway had never been put to use. At present the trolley and the motor are rusting at the slipway with corroded wires and the garbage-infested shed with weeds all over its walls.
It is further learnt that the Captain of Ports tried to restart the slipway by increasing the capacity, however all efforts failed. The Captain of Ports then formed a condemnation committee to evaluate the scrap material which was eventually sold as scrap through an auction, while the transferred workers were staffed on  department vehicles.
Highly placed sources in the department, who did not want to be named, informed that efforts have been on to revive the slipway since 2004. However, they have only succeeded to do so during the last 12 months.
The sources said that there is a proposal to eventually revive the slipway, as it will boost the department’s efforts to provide better port facilities, however said that there is no time frame to start the operations again.
But until then fixing of accountability of some careless officials of the fisheries department for wasting taxpayers money remains to be done.