MARGAO
Citizens and politicians remembered the great Goan nationalist Dr Francisco Luis Gomes on his death anniversary by naming a Colmorod road after him and paying respects to him near the Margao Communidade square on Wednesday.
Meters away from the spot where the plaque was unveiled to name the road from Sitara Atrium to St Sabastian Chapel, lies the ancestral house of Dr Gomes totally in ruins, with successive governments and politicians only paying lip service on making it into a museum after the great nationalist.
Freedom fighters and citizens have been demanding for around two decades acquisition of the ancestral house of Dr Gomes, which is now under private ownership, but in vain.
Successive governments since 2000 to date have only made promises to acquire the house and restore the same befitting the contribution of the nationalist.
Congress leaders, including Leader of Opposition, GPCC Chief Girish Chodankar, District Congress president Joe Dias, Margao Municipal Councillors Jaffer Budani, Doris Texeira, Avinash Shirodkar, besides local residents Nevin Gomes, Mathew and others participated in the unveiling of the plaque to mark the naming of the Colmorod road after Dr Gomes.
Kamat said the contribution of Dr Gomes should be included in the school textbooks to educate the young generation on the role played by the nationalist in the Portuguese Parliament for freedom of the motherland.
The Leader of Opposition, however, said the new Land Acquisition Act has come in the way of the acquisition of the ancestral house of Dr Gomes. “There was a proposal to acquire the house , but it could not materialize since the house belongs to a private owner and the tedious nature of the Land Acquisition Act,” he added.
Around a decade ago, the Margao Municipal Council had mooted a proposal for the acquisition of the ancestral house of Dr Gomes, which has been lying in ruins, but in vain for want of funds and the lack of interest from successive councils.
A resident of Colmorod Nevin Gomes told the media that the residents of Colmorod had proposed the naming of the interior road from Sitara Atrium to St Sabastian Chapel, Colmorod after Dr Francisco Luis Gomes, since he was a resident of Colmorod, coming under the MMC jurisdiction.
