PANAJI
The turf war between the Department of Tourism and the Captain of Ports over the draft jetty policy was sought to be played down by the former with the claim that the policy was restricted in its scope to just those jetties which are being used for tourism activity and businesses only.
In reply to the issues flagged by the Captain of Ports, the tourism director has responded claiming that the policy is to regulate operations and upgrade jetties being used for tourism purposes.
The Policy is currently applicable for regulating tourism activities only at five existing government jetties -- Santa Monica Jetty at Panaji, Captain of Ports Jetty at Panaji, Britona Jetty, Betim Jetty and Old Goa Jetty.
The jetty policy shall not apply to any other jetties, it said.
The policy provides for creating basic infrastructure such as toilets, waiting areas and other facilities for tourism activities.
Defining points for boarding and deboarding, besides frisking passengers, managing national security issues and accidents besides garbage management are some other matters the policy takes care of, the tourism director has said.
It standardizes minimum infrastructure facilities required across these five jetties which cater to tourists in the context of safety and better experience, it added.
The policy is restricted to boats used for tourism purposes and does not apply to those catering to casinos, barges, coal handling vessels, etc, it added.
The Tourism Director also pointed out that with the COP being one of the members of the Jetty Management Committee envisaged in the policy, the latter has been party to all discussions in the past related to introduction and drafting of the Jetty policy.
