the goan I network
PANAJI
With less than five days to go for the public hearing of the proposed Nauxim marina, legislators BJP’s Alina Saldhana, Francis Silveira and Tony Fernandes, and Congress’ Aleixo Reginaldo Lorenco, on Monday, once again said that the Chief Minister has assured them to postpone the hearing until the Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) is finalised.
The MLAs spoke to the media after a meeting with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant at his official residence in Panaji on Monday. However, “The Goan” could not ascertain these assurances with the CM himself, as his phone was switched off. It is learnt that other opponents to the marina project were also present for the meeting.
“The CM has assured us that he will abide by the request of the people and the hearing will be postponed,” Alina Saldanha said.
“He (the CM) is clear that until CZMP will be finalised no hearing on the marina will be held. It is the peoples’ view he is going to consider,” Lourenco added.
While reiterating his stand to oppose the marina, St Andre MLA Silveira, whose constituents will be largely affected if the marina comes up, said that Nauxim has been marked as a fishing village in the draft Coastal Zone Management Plan. Once the plan is notified, the people of Nauxim would have strong ground to oppose the proposed project, he added.
Meanwhile, a coordination team against the marina earlier in the morning gave a memorandum to the North Goa Collector, R Maneka IAS, to oppose the project entirely and also demanded that the public hearing be scrapped.
“Nauxim is part and parcel of the CZMP which will be
finalized by the government after November 5, hence nothing can be discussed and decided in a public hearing unless the plan is finalised,” the memorandum asserted.
This is not the first time the CM has assured the MLAs that the public hearing will be postponed. Despite the CM’s assurances, there has been no notification issued by the Collector in this regard.
