PANAJI
Six MLAs -- Vijai Sardesai, Vishwajit Rane, Rohan Khaunte, Atanasio Monserrate, Naresh Sawal and Reginaldo Lourenço -- with the support of two others -- Digambar Kamat and Jennifer Monserrate, who were not present at the press conference, have come together to jointly target the government over a range of issues in the upcoming session of the Goa Legislative Assembly.
The MLAs led by Sardesai have accused the government of failing on all fronts to deliver on their promises and instead taking the people of the state for a ride.
“We are coming together to have a united strategy in the Assembly, we will jointly raise questions in the Assembly and have a united strategy during the forthcoming session,” Sardesai said.
He identified issues such as wasteful expenditure of GSIDC, failure to build a new Hospicio building, financial discipline as well as the government’s failures on casinos, Regional Plan, special status and several other issues.
“We will put the government on the mat on these issues,” Sardesai said.
Speaking on the occasion Valpoi MLA Vishwajit Rane hit out at Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar and Deputy Chief Minister and Health Minister Francis D’Souza blaming them for the collapse of the health system in the State.
“The present health minister should resign solely on the issue of the state that GMC has come to, there is no water, medicines are not being given free, even the morgue that I had constructed is not being used to its full capacity, there is no audit being done on the 108 ambulance service,” Rane said.
Khaunte raised the issue of the beach cleaning ‘scam’ saying that the government has failed to act on the issue despite all evidence being placed before it. “If the government, as Michael Lobo says, believes that the law is equal for all, the government should act on the beach cleaning scam,” Khaunte said.
Monserrate raised the issue of GSIDC, which he said was scam. “If one were to the add up all the money the GSIDC has spent on consultancy charges, we would get a free Zuari bridge,” Monserrate said adding the GSIDC was employing consultants even for hot-mixing roads and laying pavers. He raised the issue of the Miramar-Dona Paula road which he said was an unnecessary expenditure. “The entire Bambolim Dona Paula road will have cost less than five metres of the concrete road,” Monserrate suggested.
Sawal questioned the government over the failure of its promises to provide jobs to the people, the huge number of loans that have been taken while Reginaldo questioned the government over its excesses through the Goa Investment Promotion Board which he said would environmentally ruin the state and the lives of the poor who depend on the environment.
