Amaravati, April 15 Asserting that all fishing harbours belong to fishermen, former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and YSR Congress Party president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday slammed the coalition government for what he called destroying the blue economy and handing over the harbour to private parties.
Addressing fishermen after visiting the Juvveladinne fishing harbour in Nellore district, Jagan Mohan Reddy questioned Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu as to why the Juvveladinne harbour, which was completed during his term, has not yet been handed over to fishermen.
Instead, Chandrababu has allotted land to a private defence company, taking away bread from the mouths of fishermen. There is ample land at the nearby Krishnapatnam port, but still he chose to give away land here for commercial reasons, he said.
"I assure you that in the coming days, roles will be reversed and we will dedicate all the harbours to fishermen and improve the blue economy,” he told fishermen.
He claimed that it was the YSRCP government which planned four ports and ten fishing harbours, besides six fish landing centres, to ensure facilities along the coast at a cost of Rs 26,000 crore, and secured all permissions from the Maritime Board.
"We completed Juvveladinne and virtually dedicated it to the nation in March 2024, but could not formally inaugurate it due to the election code. It was later inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Then why Chandrababu did not hand over the harbour to fishermen is evident from the fact that land from the harbour was allotted to a private party, which slowly paves the way for privatisation,” the YSRCP chief said.
He vowed not to allow the government to hand over the land to a private party.
“We will take corrective measures upon assuming power and dedicate all harbours to fishermen. As planned, we will provide 1,250 mechanised boats at 90 per cent subsidy, which will help over 25,000 families, as each boat will be shared by a group of fishermen and boost the blue economy,” he said and accused Chandrababu Naidu of harming fishermen’s livelihoods to push his commercial agenda.
"With heavy mechanised boats from Tamil Nadu entering our waters, our fishermen stopped them and handed over the boats and fishermen to the police. But four days after Lokesh’s visit to this place, the boats vanished, with the active role played by the Beda brothers (MP Beeda Mastan Rao and MLA Beeda Ravichandra), whose call data with the boats’ owner is available."
Stating that the YSRCP government had completed 35 per cent of the works of Machilipatnam and Mulapeta, while Ramayapatnam port works were nearing completion, he said why coalition government did not complete them shows that it neglects fishermen.
"Not just fishermen, all sections of people are against the coalition government as its deception has been exposed. It has failed to deliver its poll promises and has stopped all the welfare programmes we implemented,” he said.
"Fee reimbursement dues are not cleared, Aarogyasri dues are mounting, and network hospitals are refusing to treat patients. Farmers are not getting MSP, and women have not received the promised schemes and are even deprived of zero-interest benefits," he added.
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