PANAJI
Ricardo D’Souza, one of the two siblings who co-owned Club Tito’s, in a startling revelation said they have sold the iconic club synonymous with Goa’s party and nightlife scene and all their businesses due to harassment from government establishment including bureaucrats, politicians and also NGOs.
D’Souza, however, did not reveal any aspect of the deal or the identity of the buyers in the post he uploaded on his page on Monday evening on social media platform, Facebook.
“With sadness and anger, we have sold our entire business in Goa. I personally have suffered the least as I was compensated adequately and even my future generations won’t have to work,” D’Souza said in the post.
Interestingly, D’Souza has recently over the last few years made his desire to dabble in electoral politics in Goa more than publicly known.
In the post, D’Souza, who has voiced criticism and complaints against the harassment by some bureaucrats/officials asked his harassers to now employ his workforce, who have been rendered jobless.
“Can I please ask our officials to employ them, as I do not ever plan any more business in Goa. By ‘officials’ I mean all the harassing lot, like police, PDA (Planning and Development Authority), CRZ (Coastal Regulation Zone), NGOs, panchayats and sarpanchas, block development officers (BDO), and deputy collectors,” D’Souza’s post read.
He, however, spared the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and the IAS segment of the bureaucracy with this part of his longish FB post: “I am very grateful to certain segments of the government like Dr Sawant, the IAS officers, ex-staff, present staff, our neighbours, all my friends and family and the common people of Goa who all contributed to this great brand called TITO’S. End of an Era!”
Tito’s at Baga-Calangute is one of Goa’s oldest and iconic go-to nightlife spot and over more than three decades boasts of having hosted 16,425 parties.
The establishment has had some run-ins with the authorities, particularly the Coastal Regulation Zone rules implementing agencies. It’s an establishment which was set up way back in 1971 hugging the sands more than two decades before the CRZ regulations came into force.
