Fisheries portfolio row: Satheesan visits Latin Catholic leaders, assures support to coastal communities

A day after the Latin Catholic Church expressed displeasure over the Cabinet selection, Chief Minister V D Satheesan visited the Bishop's House at Vellayambalam in Thiruvananthapuram and held discussions with Vicar General Fr Eugene Pereira.

“For us, the Fisheries Department and the minister handling it are extremely important. A Fisheries Minister should be someone who understands the soul of the fishermen. The new government must ensure that the system and the department do not turn their backs on the issues faced by the fishing community,” Fr Pereira told the media after the meeting.

He said Satheesan had assured the Church that the government would intervene wholeheartedly in matters concerning coastal life. “We have hope in that assurance,” he added.

The meeting comes in the wake of the Latin Catholic Church expressing strong dissatisfaction over the lack of representation for the community in the newly announced UDF Cabinet. The Church had also opposed the decision to allocate the crucial Fisheries portfolio to the IUML.

Fr Pereira had earlier accused both the Congress and the UDF of treating coastal communities and the Latin Catholic population as mere vote banks. The community has four MLAs, Tony Chammany, J Vinod, A D Thomas and M Vincent, yet failed to secure Cabinet representation. In protest, Church representatives stayed away from the swearing-in ceremony of the V D Satheesan Cabinet on Monday.

“People in Kerala have huge expectations from this government. A large section of the population lives in coastal areas, but these regions have not received the attention they deserve for years. Every monsoon season brings tragedies and accidents, yet the situation remains unchanged,” Fr Pereira said after the meeting.

He also criticised the situation of the marine ambulance procured using contributions received after the Ockhi cyclone. “It was used for nearly two months for the rescue operations at sea. This reflects the neglect the coastal sector has faced over the years,” he added.

Fr Pereira said the Church had actively intervened in several public and political issues concerning fishermen across Kerala in the past year, and not just in Thiruvananthapuram. “Everyone knows about issues such as Munambam and Vizhinjam. But successive systems chose to ignore the concerns of fishermen and coastal residents,” he said.

Referring to the impact of the Vizhinjam port, he said changes in sea currents had worsened the situation along the coast. “Recently, a child lost his life there, while several others were caught in sea whirlpools. That is why we wanted someone in the Cabinet who truly understands the struggles and realities of fishermen. We had conveyed this concern to the leadership as well,” he added.