MAPUSA
Stating that most of the objections on the draft jetty policy were copy and paste, Tourism Minister, Rohan Khaunte said the government will incorporate good suggestions from the public and give shape to the final policy.
Khaunte also said that some in the opposition in an attempt to stay relevant were trying to misguide the people by drawing false conclusions.
“The period to file objections to the draft jetty policy ended on October 31. We have asked our team to compile the objections. A lot of the objections that we have received are copy, stick and paste. But we welcome them. We will work on them and incorporate good suggestions in the final policy which will be only for tourism activity,” Khaunte said.
The draft jetty policy has drawn the ire from cross-section of the society with several civil groups and opposition parties slamming the government for trying to revive the Sagarmala project through the back-door.
Several gram sabhas across the State discussed and outrightly rejected the policy.
Initially, the draft jetty policy was kept open for objections for just 15 days but later extended twice giving almost 45 days for people to file their objections.
Without taking names, Khaunte said that some from the opposition were trying to fill the vacuum in the opposition space by misguiding the people on the policy.
“In a democracy it is the right of the opposition to raise their voice and they should exercise that right. But don’t misguide. I can only express my regrets,” he said.
He said the government was very clear and transparent of its intention and will formulate a good policy for the State.
“We are clear in our heads and as we move forward we will come to you. We will also clear the doubts of the opposition,” he said.
