Surprising why Reginaldo Lourenco wrote to CEC without speaking to the Govt
Away from the glare of the unseemly controversy over theexport of ore from Maharashtra through Goa ports, Chief Minister ManoharParrikar said that it was Curtorim MLA ALexio Reginaldo Lourenco who wrote tothe CEC stating that the government was violating the Supreme Court order onthe movement and transportation of ore, asking it to stop movement and also therenewal of mining leases. He hits back saying that the Congress MLA wantsmining to shut down and people to suffer loss of livelihood
The Goan: The CEC has advised your government thatpermissions granted for the export of Maharashtra origin iron ore are kept inabeyance till the facts about its origin are verified
Manohar Parrikar: Firstly the Supreme Court does not empowerCEC to give advice of this nature. But more importantly, everyone mustunderstand that the government has changed in Goa. You cannot presume that thegovernment is wrong. We are a responsible government that takes action afterverifying facts. So people who are acting like superheroes should produceevidence that we have gone wrong.
The Goan: Super heroes as in?
MP: Well, the Curtorim MLA ( Alexio Reginaldo Lourenco) wrote a letter on Jan 16 (date handwritten)to the CEC on the basis of newspaper reports, without verifying any facts evenfrom the government, to stop export of non-Goan ore and stop renewal of miningleases. The CEC wrote to the Goa and Maharashtra governments the very next day.Does it happen this way? Someone with vested interest must have hand deliveredthe letter to the CEC. And then four days later the petitioner went to thecourt (on this issue).
This smacks of collusion at some level to cripple the miningindustry and affect its employment. The MLA could have asked the government. Ifyou see the sequence of events and join the dots, suspicions arise.
The Goan: Can you elaborate on these suspicions?
MP: The suspicion is that it isn’t as simple as an MLAsending a dispatch to the CEC. It’s more planned than that. The letter saysthat the state government is doing everything possible to move the ore. This isa permissible administrative exercise of legal ore transportation.
The Goan: So what does this indicate?
MP: It indicates that people and politicians like thisCongress MLA are against the starting of economic mining activity. Hence theyare blocking even small attempts to legally initiate the starting of economicactivity. But there is a larger vested interest by the Congress to affect allBJP government financially, they have also colluded with other forces.
The Goan: What is the governments’ response to the CEC’s“advise” to keep all permissions in abeyance?
MP: This government will only respond to the SupremeCourt. Our government will file itsresponse. We are clear. We will not stop any legal trade and commerce in thestate. There has been absolutely no contempt or violation of any order.
Secondly the letter states that the government is trying torenew leases. Where is the question of trying? We ARE renewing leases since oneof the violations pointed out by the Shah commission is that leases haven’tbeen renewed. When leases are renewed, operations can start in 30 odd leaseswhen mining is allowed. Is that wrong?
