OLD GOA
Despite Chief Minister Pramod Sawant’s assurance in the Assembly that the issue of rehabilitating GMC kiosk owners would be resolved in eight days, the kiosk owners continued with their peaceful protest for the second day and this time, shifted the protest site outside GMC Bambolim on Tuesday.
They have further decided to continue their protest for eight more days, from 9 am to 11.30 am, and would decide on a future course of action if their demands are not fulfilled.
Speaking to reporters, Domnic Pereira said though the CM has given assurance in the Assembly, they have not been formally intimated as yet.
“We have watched it on news channels. But nobody has formally conveyed the message to us. MLA Tony Fernandes has only told us that our rehabilitation will be done. However, we have told him that we will continue to protest till the time our demands are met,” Pereira said.
“We are hopeful that the government will come to our rescue, but we have decided to continue with the protest for another eight days as we do not have any work. We will decide on the future course of action if nothing happens after eight days,” he added.
Asked if they were satisfied with the way Fernandes spoke in the Assembly on their issue, Pereira said, “We are happy. He is not usually aggressive, but the way he spoke in our support showed that he feels our pain. This is the first time in the Assembly that our MLA showed his true ability to fight for the people.”
“Our MLA has cited that some officials are not working due to which the process is pending. But Goan officers are very helpful to us as they understand our pain, but officers from outside are the ones who are creating hurdles,” he said.
‘CM has been misinformed thata vendor owns multiple kiosks’
OLD GOA
Stating that Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has been misinformed, a kiosk owner Sandip Chodankar informed that there is nobody among them who owns more than one kiosk.
“All of us are owners of only a single kiosk. There is nobody who owns 4-5 kiosks, as stated by the CM. Also, his statement that we do not have proper documents is false as we have NOCs from the panchayat, FDA, health, electricity department, etc.,” Chodankar stated.
“The CM is being misinformed. There is nobody here conducting business without a license. But there is one issue that one person is operating four kiosks after taking them on rent. But those kiosks are rented out by kiosk owners, who are government servants. Our kiosk owners, who are protesting, are not the ones who have rented out kiosks,” Chodankar said.
