the goan I network
VASCO
Slamming the Congress party in Goa, President of Old Cross Fishing Canoe Owners Cooperative Society Limited Custodio D’Souza on Saturday said that the traditional fishermen in Goa wanted to know the stand of the party on MPT’s expansion plans, which are proposed to finish them.
D’Souza said that it was during the Congress rule in 2011 that Mormugao Port Trust and the State government had assured that no development would take place at Kharewado. However, 66 houses were demolished in 2011 on Kharewado beach, he reminded.
“Late social activist Fr Bismarque along with locals had demanded that fishing bays be declared as fishing villages, but it never happened. This is a fraud. We have minutes of the meeting in which MPT and the State government clearly wrote that there would be no development in Kharewado,” he stated.
He recalled, “Manohar Parrikar-led BJP was in the opposition and Congress was ruling then. Today Parrikar-led BJP is out to finish traditional fishermen and Congress leaders are nowhere to be seen. We want to know Congress party’s stand as it was during its rule that it was assured in written that there would be no projects or developments in Kharewado. Why is the party silent today despite its government assuring fishermen that there would be no development along Vasco bay.”
D’Souza said the fishermen will never agree to MPT’s 19.5 mtrs dredging.
