MAPUSA
Launching a scathing attack against vested interests for trying to snatch away land from tenants, St Anthony Tenants and Mundkars Association President Francis Rodrigues said politicians, officials and builders were hand in gloves in an attempt to grab tenanted land from its rightful owners.
"In the name of launching various development projects, some politicians, officials and builders have come together to snatch away large tracts of tenanted land," Rodrigues alleged.
Rodrigues along with other like-minded associations was addressing the media in Mapusa. Rejecting the recent deputy collector's order declaring the disputed Tiracol land acquired by Leading Hotels Ltd free from tenancy, Rodrigues said some of the disputed land was agricultural land while some were under cashew and mango cultivation.
"While conducting the investigation on the disputed land, the Mamltadars have declared the land as non-tenanted without following proper procedures," he said.
Demanding that the land be handed back over to the tenants, he said the tenant association
will use all means to fight for its right so that the land does not go into the hands of the builders.
The spokesman of Goa Kul Mundkar Sangharsh Samiti, Santosh Mandrekar said former chief minister, Laxmikant Parsekar had appointed another bureaucrat, Sandeep Jacques to conduct inquiry into the disputed land and in his report Jacques had said that some of the land was agricultural land.
"Today the special deputy collector, Agnel Fernandes declares entire land as non-tenanted. How do we read these two different versions? And who is the government trying to fool by conducting such inquiries," Mandrekar questioned.
He further alleged that during the Portuguese regime, Tiracol land was handed over to one, Kashinath Khalap.
"Khalap in turn sold the land to Leading Hotels Ltd for Rs 33 crore," he alleged and wondered how agricultural land could be sold. "It's a grave matter and the government should question Khalap on this issue," he added.
He said the association will celebrate Tillers day on October 8 and then decide the next course of action.
