VASCO
The third public hearing on Friday on work to re-develop Berths 8, 9 and barge berths at the port for multi-cargo activity was met with an equally intense public opposition, with speakers alleging irregularities in the MPT’s EIA report.
The agitated people present at the Tilak Maidan accused MPT officials present at the hearing of failing to give satisfactory answers to queries by speakers on pollution and environment degradation.
At one point, people insisted that the presiding officer, Additional Collector Johnson Fernandes, vacate the MPT officials from the dais.
NCP Goa State President Jose Philip D’Souza then sought the presence of the MPT chairman or the deputy chairman or any other senior official, who could provide proper answers to public queries.
Dinesh Dias from Salvador-do-Mundo pointed out major discrepancies in the Form 1 which MPT had circulated and sought an explanation from MPT officials.
Dias brought to their notice that in Form 1 of dredging of the channel, it is mentioned that about 20,000 people are staying in Vasco and the Form 1 circulated for the third hearing on dredging of the berths did not mention the population staying in Vasco.
When Dias requested the MPT officials to clarify and when officials on the dais stood by the contents in the second Form 1, the people got agitated and requested the presiding officer to vacate the MPT officials, as they
had made mockery of the hearing.
“In today’s EIA report, there is no mention of Baina, Bogmalo beach, Grande Islands, St Jacinto Island and other places of worship and educational places with a radius of 15 km from the project, while for hearing on the first day on expansion of berths 5A and 6A, all these places were mentioned in the report,” said Dias.
Objecting to the expansion plans of MPT, all speakers said the reports prepared by MPT were “merely cut, paste from the internet” and that, the reports are “misleading, confusing false and
incorrect.”
When John Fernandes of Benaulim sought to know if and when the survey and inspection of the environment and marine ecology was physically conducted, MPT officials failed to provide any answer.
When Fernandes further sought to know if MPT was in possession of the report published on credentials of all stakeholders involved in the expansion, dredging and uprgadation of the berths, the MPT officials also failed to reply.
Since Friday’s public hearing could not be completed till 10 pm, it will continue on Saturday along with
the other two public hearings, which also did not conclude on Wednesday and Thursday.
