the goan I network
MAPUSA
Batting for the farmers of Mapusa, Congress MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco on Monday said some developers were out to take advantage of the Mapusa downtown scheme to strike gold at the cost of the fields belonging to poor families.
“Some developers who are councillors in Mapusa have acquired fields from the farmers to gain benefit from the Mapusa downtown scheme. I will see that this project is scrapped and the farmers are allowed to plough their fields again,” Reginaldo said.
The Congress MLA was addressing a news conference along with Sanjay Barde, president of Shree Bodgeshwar Shetkari Sangh and Bahujan Samaj members in a city hotel.
Reginaldo said that some BJP partymen were in a hurry to make a fast buck through the downtown scheme.
He said a certain councillor has been moving around making tall promises and forcing farmers to submit to the scheme.
“These BJP people are quite adept in helping the rich to grow richer while leaving the downtrodden to languish in poverty,” Reginaldo said.
He disclosed that as a member of the select committee, he ensured that the “housing” clause in the Goa Requisition and Acquisition of Property Act, 2017 was removed and land to be acquired for “public purpose” was clearly defined.
“When we were discussing the bill in the select committee, I had the Mapusa downtown scheme in mind and ensured that the housing clause in the bill was removed so that it was not misused,” Reginaldo said.
The Congress MLA also said that a senior councillor was forcing a poor farmer, Nila Parsekar to handover her fields for the scheme by making false promises to her.
President of Shree Bodgeshwar Shetkari Sangh, Sanjay Barde stated that Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had clearly said that those farmers who were not interested could stay away from the scheme.
“A senior councillor and the BJP were adopting a divide and rule policy to win over the farmers and get their work done,” Barde said.
