PANAJI
Three Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs “ Mahadev Naik, Ganesh Gaonkar and Siddharth Kunkolienkar - have urged Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) to support the State government in development work as non-governmental organisations (NGOs) often act as a hurdle in the progress.
The legislators were speaking on the occasion of 108th annual general meeting (AGM) of GCCI. Naik, who is also the Industries Minister, said, “GCCI should come out more strongly in support of the State government against NGOs. These groups tend to put hurdles”
Gaonkar even told the gathering that under the current State government, infrastructure for industries has improved as the government has built good roads inside industrial estates.
Kunkolienkar, who is also EDC chairman, said, “A number of projects in Goa, such as the third Mandovi bridge and solid waste management plan, have been unduly delayed as vested interests approached the national green tribunal (NGT). The Tribunal, however, found no merit in their case and the government is going ahead with these projects. GCCI should be more proactive and support the government in all these development works.”
Gaonkar, who is also the chairman of GIDC, echoed the views of Naik and Kunkolienkar that GCCI should support government more strongly.
Explaining industrial progress in the State, Naik said, “A garment export unit is going to come up in Shiroda. This unit will export to the US and UK. 500 women will be trained to work in it. The unit will start operations by August or September. By February-March next year, the number of jobs in the unit will increase to 1,000.”
