Old deal, sale deed being done now, says minister
PANAJI
A routine public notice in which a lawyer declares his unnamed client is in the process of purchasing two adjoining chunks of land in Saipem, Candolim, has raised eyebrows and has been the subject of animated discussion in Goa’s social media ecosystem.
Nothing unusual that such a public notice has been published in local print media, except that Ports Minister Michael Lobo and his wife Delilah, are named as the sellers. Delilah is also a budding politician and has been sarpanch of Parra village for several years now.
Two parcels of land -- one admeasuring 5000 square meters and another approximately 2000 square meters -- in the Saipem locality of the Candolim village are proposed to be purchased from the Lobo couple by the unnamed client, according to the notice.
Lobo on his part claims it is just a routine transaction and there’s nothing to hide in the deal.
“We sold it long back. About two years ago. The sale deed formalities are being carried out now,” Lobo told The Goan when asked to comment on the land sale which is being animatedly discussed in Whatsapp groups and other social media platforms.
“What’s there in it to be discussed? It (land) was bought long ago from a Goan owner and is being ‘partly’ sold again to a Goan,” Lobo said, adding that the transaction is partly a sale and partly a ‘joint-development proposal.
He said a project of row villas is being proposed on this land.
“We are not putting up any massive structure. It is a project which is proposing to construct row villas,” Lobo said, adding that no one should have a problem since the party involved is local (Goan).
Politicians linked to real estate transactions is an issue that has been attracting much controversy in Goa where real estate valuations are believed to be unreasonably high and owning a piece of land even for basic housing needs is a proposition far beyond the means and reach of an average Goan.
Also, political leaders dabbling in the lucrative real estate space is commonplace and a topic where public discussion often assumes frenetic proportion with the politico involved usually being accused of abusing powers to skirt regulation or “get things done” out of turn.
Significantly, Lobo has known interests in real estate and has often faced sustained criticism for his vocal support for land development changes during his time as chairman of the North Goa Planning and Development Authority.
Civil society and citizens in his Calangute constituency have severally protested changes he has proposed in land zoning and regulation largely seen to be favourable to the real estate and builder lobby.
As recently as in May-June this year, a notification declaring Calangute an ‘urban area’ triggered fears that the political class was intending to promote large-scale land development and constructions in the already over-built coastal village.
It also gave rise to fears that the government intended to eventually elevate the panchayat to a municipality, which Lobo, however, promptly denied and even represented to the government, in which he himself is a cabinet minister, that the notification declaring ‘urban’ status to Calangute be withdrawn.
A couple of years ago, Lobo was also the target of an agitiation launched by a section of Calangute-Candolim residents against a process lorded over by him to draw up an Outline Development Plan (ODP), a regulation usually followed for cities.
Having an ODP for Calangute-Candolim was a devious plan to unlock large chunks of land demarcated as No Development Zones under the Regional Plan, Lobo’s detractors on the ODP issue had alleged.
