GIVING A EAR
>> Decision to postpone TCP board meeting was taken soon after TCP minister had meeting with members of Candolim Residents and Consumer Forum
>> The TCP minister informed that the villagers had raised several points and the first thing they demanded was to do away with PDA
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MAPUSA: People’s power prevailed after Town & Country Planning Minister Vijai Sardessai on Monday agreed to examine issues raised by the locals from the North Goa coastal belt and put off a discussion of outline development plan for Calangute-Candolim.
The TCP board meeting with the Calangute-Candolim ODP on the agenda scheduled during the day was postponed indefinitely.
“It’s not correct not to engage with people even though they are our critics. We should give them time and we should examine their complaints,” Sardessai said.
He, however, made it clear that he had no powers to disband the Calangute-Candolim PDA, which was already constituted.
The decision to postpone the TCP board meeting was taken soon after the TCP minister had a meeting with the members of the Candolim Residents and Consumer Forum (CRCF) at his residence at 11 am.
The TCP minister informed that the villagers had raised several points and the first thing they demanded was to do away with PDA.
“I told them I cannot discuss that because we have to discuss things within the ambit of the TCP Act. To disband the PDA which is already constituted…I don’t have powers to do that,” Sardessai told The Goan.
He said the villagers made a direct charge that the government was not giving them an appointment and refused to hear them.
“This charge was clear. One cannot refuse to hear people. Therefore I said let’s give them a chance and examine the issues raised by them,” he said.
The TCP minister said that he “did not want to jump the gun” when queried whether there was any possibility that government may drop the two villages from the PDA at a later stage.
He said he did not agree with the villagers’ contention that Calangute-Candolim was not sufficiently developed and therefore should not be included in the PDA.
“One cannot say that for Calangute or Candolim at least. If Calangute and Candolim is not developed then what is Fatorda? Fatroda is a rural-urban area. If this area can become a municipality, then nothing stops Calangute and Candolim to be considered as planning area,” he opined.
“I don’t find any logic in asking to drop the two villages from PDA. For what? Are you saying Chimbel, or Santa Cruz and Siridao is same as Calangute and Candolim? It can’t be. You can’t equate them,” he added.
Candolim residents “ Regina Fernandes, Roshan Mathias, Agnelo Barreto and Anthony Dsouza “ had gone for the meeting after receiving an invite from the TCP minister’s office late Sunday night.
The CRCF thanked the TCP minister for giving them an opportunity to hear their issues.
