the goan I network
MARGAO
South Goa MP Francisco Sardinha on Saturday urged the government to give time to the citizens to make representation on the notification of their land as private forests.
The MP also came down heavily on NCP MLA Churchill Alemao, reminding the Benaulim MLA that he had once defeated him in the Lok Sabha election.
Flanked by Congress District President Joe Dias and PCC leader Subhash Faldesai, Sardinha, told the media that the government cannot take unilateral decisions by declaring private land as private forests.
“People had grown trees on their land over the years and the Forest Department cannot simply come one day and declare their land as private forests,” he said, while adding that the the government can impose conditions on the private land owners when it came to the felling of trees.
Meanwhile, while urging the people of South Goa to get the Congress candidates elected for the South Goa Zilla Panchayat seat, Sardinha lambasted NCP MLA Churchill Alemao and did not spare Aam Aadmi Party chief Elvis Gomes for their statement that he was responsible for bringing the BJP to power.
“If Churchill says that he had defeated me twice in the Assembly election, let me make clear that I was defeated for the first time over the plan to shift the Sonsodo dump on the Raia side of the border. Second time, I lost because they misguided the people that I am for the closure of the Dabolim airport. Let me make it clear that I have been supporting Mopa only as an airport to meet the future requirements, but at the same time, I had got Rs 500 crore central grant for the expansion of Dabolim,” he said.
Referring to Churchill’s allegation that he was involved in the bonds scam, Sardinha said while other ministers and MLAs have only seen the jail from outside, Churchill is one politician who has seen the jails from inside.
As far as AAP leader Elvis Gomes is concerned, Sardinha said that only Gomes and former Chief Minister late Manohar Parrikar know the circumstances that had led to the bureaucrat to quit government service.
On the coronavirus scare, the MP said the government should be vigilant on the question of the steep rise in prices of sanitizers and face masks.
