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PARSEKAR ON GAMING VESSELS
* Govt has failed to provide alternate sites for relocation of casinos at River Mandovi
* As no alternate sites provided, So it is not possible to tell them to stop operations
* If the casinos are directed to stop operations, it will send a wrong message to investors
* This does not mean I am encouraging any additional casinos in Mandovi or any other river
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The State Government is likely to appoint a gaming commissioner to look into the affairs of casinos in the State within a fortnight.
Speaking to media persons on the sidelines of Revolution Day function at Azad Maidan on Saturday, Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar said, “The process is going on. We are likely to appoint the gaming commissioner within a fortnight.”
He reiterated that the State Government had neither encouraged casinos in the State nor would it encourage them in the future.
“This government has not brought any casinos to the State and will not bring in any in the future. But we cannot stop or cancel what was existent or permitted by the erstwhile government. We have to find alternate sites and the State Government is already in the process of doing it,” he said.
He, however, admitted that the casinos were operating from River Mandovi as the State Government had failed to provide alternate sites for its relocation.
"We have still not provided any alternate sites. So it is not possible to tell them to stop operations,” he said adding that if the casinos are directed to stop operations, it will send a wrong message to investors willing to invest in the State.
“Businessmen have already invested in casinos, may be not during our time but during the erstwhile government. We are inviting investors from across the world, and if we act against the existing investors, it will send a wrong message to those who are willing to invest now. They should find it safe to invest in Goa. But this does not mean I am encouraging any additional casinos in Mandovi or any other river in the State,” he said.
