OLD GOA
Every time a G20 meeting is held in Goa, the kiosk owners operating outside GMC-Bambolim have to suffer as they are told to shut shop.
And it happened for the second time in two months as the kiosks were shut for two days i.e. May 9 and 10 in view of the G20 meet that was scheduled from May 9 to 11.
Earlier in April, the kiosk owners were told to shut shop for four days when the first summit of G20 was held.
And this is not the end as there are several other G20 meetings scheduled in the coming months and the kiosk owners will be told to shut their business on account of the same.
Interestingly though, no official communication is made to the kiosk owners and everything is done orally. Also, no compensation is offered by authorities concerned to the kiosk owners who lose their business on account of such closures.
When contacted, Santa Cruz Deputy Sarpanch Domnic Pereira says that they received directives from the Tiswadi BDO in the matter.
“The same directive was forwarded to the Agassaim police station as we just cannot direct the kiosk owners to shut shop,” Pereira added.
A kiosk owner, on condition of anonymity, said that this is nothing but sheer harassment from the authorities.
“Our livelihood is totally dependent on our small-scale business and closure of the same incurs heavy losses for us. The government should at least compensate us for our losses,” the vendor demanded.
