MAPUSA
Deputy Speaker and Calangute MLA Michael Lobo on Friday said the drug trade has not stopped but its is controlled and the chief minister was keeping a regular tab on drug-related activities in the State.
"Drug trade is under control, it has not stopped. There is control... The chief minister is taking periodical meetings and he gives us feedback," Lobo said.
The deputy speaker was reacting to The Goan query whether the crackdown by the coastal police stations of Calangute and Anjuna and the crime branch
Deputy Speaker and Calangute MLA Michael Lobo on Friday said the drug trade has not stopped but its is controlled and the chief minister was keeping a regular tab on drug-related activities in the State.
"Drug trade is under control, it has not stopped. There is control... The chief minister is taking periodical meetings and he gives us feedback," Lobo said.
The deputy speaker was reacting to The Goan query whether the crackdown by the coastal police stations of Calangute and Anjuna and the crime branch
has stopped drug trade in the State.
He said Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has also requested him (MLA) to pass on any drug-related information he has so that it can be forwarded to the department concerned like the anti-narcotic cell.
"All the people of Calangute and Goa are duty bound to give information if you want the drug trade to stop. It has to be cracked down in a way that the person who wants to start business in drugs will have to think ten times if he wants to start it," he added.
He further said along with action against the drug trade it was important to establish a drug rehabilitation centre in the State.
"All drug addicts that are in Goa - boys and girls - have to be put in drug rehabilitation centres," Lobo averred.
On the open prostitution taking place in Calangute area, the MLA said the government has taken series of steps to curb the menace after a video showing a hooker patronizing clients along the Calangute-Baga belt went viral recently.
"We have taken action on that (prostitution) and you will not find those people on the roadside again. They have been picked up and they have been sent to Apna Ghar. We are very strict as far as all those things are concerned," he said.
He said the police were doing their best but when a woman is involved in a criminal activity police have limitations. "Cases have been filed against the local police with human rights, SP and DGP office. We have to be very careful...Any woman standing on the road cannot be called a prostitute," he said.
He said Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has also requested him (MLA) to pass on any drug-related information he has so that it can be forwarded to the department concerned like the anti-narcotic cell.
"All the people of Calangute and Goa are duty bound to give information if you want the drug trade to stop. It has to be cracked down in a way that the person who wants to start business in drugs will have to think ten times if he wants to start it," he added.
He further said along with action against the drug trade it was important to establish a drug rehabilitation centre in the State.
"All drug addicts that are in Goa - boys and girls - have to be put in drug rehabilitation centres," Lobo averred.
On the open prostitution taking place in Calangute area, the MLA said the government has taken series of steps to curb the menace after a video showing a hooker patronizing clients along the Calangute-Baga belt went viral recently.
"We have taken action on that (prostitution) and you will not find those people on the roadside again. They have been picked up and they have been sent to Apna Ghar. We are very strict as far as all those things are concerned," he said.
He said the police were doing their best but when a woman is involved in a criminal activity police have limitations. "Cases have been filed against the local police with human rights, SP and DGP office. We have to be very careful...Any woman standing on the road cannot be called a prostitute," he said.
