TUTICORIN: The State Government should set up a welfare board for fishermen to help them out in times of emergencies, National Union of Fishermen president G. Anton Gomez has said.

Through the board, which should include members of the community, including women, health and education assistance could be given, he told journalists here on Tuesday.

Mr. Gomez demanded that the Centre abandon the plan to establish a major port at Colachel in Kanyakumari district, since the movement of container ships would affect the livelihood of fishermen. "Instead, the Government should have opted for a sophisticated fishing harbour, which will help the fishermen handle their catch hygienically."

Mr. Gomez and Gilbert Rodrigo, convener, Tamil Nadu Puducherry Fisher People Federation, alleged that the Government failed to resettle the tsunami-affected people of the State properly, though it received $630 million in aid from various sources.

He said it was ironical that a nuclear reactor was being built at Koodankulam near Tirunelveli, just 25 metres from the sea, while the Central and State Governments were trying to shift fishermen from the shores under the pretext of safeguarding them from calamities.

Coastal zone management

The fishermen would oppose the M.S. Swaminathan Committee's recommendation to form an Integrated Coastal Zone Management comprising significant land and sea areas to protect coastal resources, he said.

The proposal would alienate fishermen from the coastal areas, he said, since the committee did not take the housing rights of fishermen into consideration.

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