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Blaming former revenue minister and Porvorim MLA Rohan Khaunte for disrupting fishing activity in the traditional sluice gates, the Congress party on Thursday demanded immediate revocation of last year’s order to suspend auctioning of the sluice gates and called for its re-auction.
“The new Revenue Minister Jennifer Monserrate should revoke the order within seven days, the December 2018 order to suspend auctioning of sluice gates and re-auction them to give opportunity to locals to do business,” said Shankar Phadte, president of Porvorim Congress
Block.
He also said if the government failed to take adequate steps to revoke the suspension, the Congress would be left with no alternative but to launch an agitation and as a first step will lead a morcha before the collector’s office.
The President of Porvorim Congress Block was addressing a news conference along with GPCC General Secretary Amarnath Panjikar, Saligao Congress Block President Atul Naik and Serula Tenant Association’s Vilas Naik.
Continuing, Phadte said after suspending the auction, the sluice gates were handed over to the fish mafia and political goons were operating them. “Former revenue minister and Porvorim MLA was responsible for the order to suspend auctioning of the sluice gates,” he said without taking names.
He said a section of youth close to politicians started drinking and creating nuisance at the sluice gates and thereby destroying the age-old traditional income of farmers. “Some people close to politicians started operating the sluice gates and the fishing bounty made its way to police officers, mamlatdars and the politicians,” Phadte alleged.
Goa Pradesh Congress Committee General Secretary Amarnath Panjikar said for almost a
year after suspending the auction, the department has failed to conduct any inspections and has neither made efforts to reorganise the management of the sluice
gates.
“By suspending the auction, our youth were deprived from employment in the fishing activity,” Panjikar said, and called for revocation of the suspension.
Referring to the recent ACB raid and filling of FIR at the smuggling of food grains in Colvale, the PCC general secretary lamented that the government has failed to disclose who were involved in the crime. “We demand the Civil Supplies Minister Govind Gaude to identify the culprits and impose strictest punishment on them,”
he said.
He appreciated the government’s initiative to embrace technology and fixing machines at fair price shops but cautioned that many times the machines failed to function due to range of issues which inconvenienced the locals. He also said that August 21 deadline
given to the public was very short and appealed to the government to relook into the dates to accommodate more people.
