VASCO: Hitting out at the government for approving the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) 2019 despite several objections, the Goenchea Raponkarancho Ekvott (GRE) have threatened a state-wide agitation and even mass suicides of fishermen to force the government to withdraw the CRZ notification.
Addressing the media on Wednesday, the GRE said the government wanted to destroy the livelihood of coastal communities in the State.
GRE President Agnelo Rodrigues said Goan fishermen were slowly being finished off due to the anti-fishermen policy by the government.
“This is a desperate attempt by the government to push Sagarmala plans which will concretize the entire 105-km coastline of Goa and 190-km of riverline of Goa under the national Waterways Act 2016.
“We demand that the State government and all 3 MPs of Goa take up this issue at the Centre and scrap this CRZ 2019 notification at the earliest, failing which we will be forced to take to the streets. We may have to resort to mass suicides and die on our own before the government kills us," said Rodrigues.
GRE General Secretary Olencio Simoes said he was shocked after the Centre had approved the CRZ 2019 notification, despite assurances by Union Minister Suresh Prabhu, South MP Narendra Sawaikar and several coastal MPs from Maharasthra, Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, etc. who were present at an 'Interaction with Parliamentarians’, where objections to the Draft CRZ notification were highlighted in Delhi.
"The CRZ 2019 will be a dark era for Goa as coastal communities like fishermen, toddy tappers, farmers, tourism operators, shack owners etc. will be displaced as the NDZ is reduced to 50mts.”
“The CRZ 2019 has completely diluted the very founding principles and objectives of protecting the coastal communities, coastal and marine ecology. We are having a general body meeting of the national fishing federation at Gujarat with fishing community leaders of 12 states, where we will discuss out agenda. We will also plan an all-India agitation against CRZ 2019," said Simoes.
Custodio D’souza said the CRZ 2019 would accelerate the erosion of Goa's coastline in just 10 years.
“We will teach the MPs a good lesson as they have done nothing for fishermen till date,” said D'Souza.
-----------------------
Alina says she
cannot help
us, says GRE
VASCO: The Goenchea Raponkarancho Ekvott (GRE) on Wednesday accused Cortalim MLA Alina Saldanha of failing to address issues plaguing the fishing community in the State.
"The late Matanhy Saldanha was a true leader of the masses and there can be no leader like him to address the issues confronting fishermen. Matanhy knew our issues inside out and was the only legislator who fought for us,” said GRE President Agnelo Rodrigues.
“After him, we got his wife, Alina, elected twice, once unopposed, hoping she would do something for us. Today, she is silent and is watching us suffer. If we question her, she says since she is part of the BJP government she cannot do anything," complained Rodrigues.
