Protests prompt review; meet with corporation chairman soon
PWD Minister Digambar Kamat assured fishermen and citizens of Benaulim that the GTDC will not hand over the Benaulim public lot to a hotel.
MARGAO
In a significant development, PWD Minister Digambar Kamat on Wednesday said the Benaulim public parking lot will be fully made available for parking for fishermen as well as tourism stakeholders and visitors alike to the beach.
After launching the repair and hot-mixing work on the Benaulim beach road on Wednesday, the Minister said he has spoken to the hotel owner after local stakeholders raised their objection to the decision by the Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) to hand over the parking space to the hotel on a 99-year lease. “The hotel owner was kind enough in assuring that he is not interested in the public parking space. He has only raised the issue of refund of his money paid to the GTDC in lieu of the lease,” he said.
Saying that the issue will be finally resolved in the next 8–10 days, Kamat said he would have a meeting with GTDC Chairman Kedar Naik on the matter. “Kedar too is not in favour of taking any decision which is being objected to by the local fishermen and tourism stakeholders,” he added.
On the Benaulim beach road, the PWD Minister said the contractor has commenced work on the project, adding that the road would be hot-mixed as soon as the hot-mix plants are made operational.
Benaulim fisherman Pele Fernandes profusely thanked the PWD Minister for resolving the issue of the Benaulim parking space through his intervention. “Today, Kamat has resolved an issue which has been bothering the local fishermen and the tourism stakeholders. I hope the process to cancel the lease will be taken to its logical conclusion in the coming days as assured by Kamat,” Pele said.
Meanwhile, youth leader Warren Alemao has thanked PWD Minister Digambar Kamat for standing by the people of Benaulim village. “On April 10, we reached out with a distress call regarding the terrible condition of the road (from Marial Hall Junction to Benaulim Beach). Within just 12 days, the minister honoured his commitment and ensured that work began on the ground. This is a win for the people of Benaulim village,” Warren said.
