MARGAO
Social activist and TMC vice-president, Dr Jorson Fernandes has said that Goans residing along the 52km coast which has now come under the jurisdiction of Mormugao Port Authority (MPA) as per the Major Ports Authority Bill 2000 which became an Act on February 10, 2021, will need to seek permission from the MPA as Goa’s laws pertaining to planning and development will be superseded, while the State will lose substantial revenue solely to the “double engine governance” in Goa.
He said the fate of the traditional fisherman, ramponkars and small boat owners in the 52km coast line is at stake, as they will have to obtain licences and other permissions from MPA, much more so as the Goan rivers have also been nationalised by the so called “double engine” government.
“Another State within the State of Goa has now been created wherein the powers of the Goa government as well as the local bodies, especially those related to land use and planning will be superseded in the designated coastal region. The Act allows the Board to use its property, assets and funds as deemed fit for the development of the major port,” pointed out Dr Jorson.
He said it is a well-known fact that the Mormugao Port is the hub for coal storage and its subsequent transportation mainly by road, rail and the rivers.
“Coal related pollution is there affecting the health of the people mostly those from Mormugao and others along the tracks. Of late, we have witnessed that the Port has failed to protect and improve the quality of the environment especially in the Port area, thus negating the very aim of creating an authority with the purpose of environmental protection,” he said.
Saying the government woke up too late in asking for the reconsideration of the Bill, Dr Jorson said the caretaker Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, need not shed crocodile tears now when it is well known that the Goa State laws like Country Planning Act, Regional Plans/ODPs prepared under Goa Municipal Act, Goa Panchayat Raj Act, Goa Land Development and Building Construction Regulations 2010 and Goa Land Revenue Code will be out of bounds in the areas controlled by Mormugao Port Authority, thus giving a licence for creating a new colony of New Delhi under the “double engine.”
He added: “It has been rightly called as a “disaster engine”, stressed Dr Jorson. Goa was liberated from the Portuguese in 1961, but became a mini-colony from New Delhi from February 10, 2021. It is a pity that Goa has already been sold with the government selling all public sector undertakings, public properties. The next step will be privatisation. Certainly it is detrimental to the interests of Goa and Goans will be treated as second class citizens in some parts of the State as the new policy will allow backdoor entry to crony capitalists now into our port. The time has now come for Goans to wake up from the sussegad attitude and salvage whatever little is left of Goa, or else Goa will soon be a full-fledged colony of New Delhi and other North States, thus losing its uniqueness in terms of culture which in any case is eroding very, very fast.”
