MAPUSA
Urging the youth to come out and question the government, the Goencho Ekvott on Sunday said people of Goa will continue to fight against the destructive projects being pushed down the throats of Goans and no amount of threats will stop the movement.
The Goencho Ekvott also questioned the government why the people of Goa were not taken into confidence over the three linear projects that are planned in the State.
“Is destroying Goa of national interest? Who is the head of the police to tell people? He should take care of crime. Please don’t play with us,” said Fr Bolmax Pereira while addressing a gathering in Mapusa.
The Goencho Ekvott had organised a meeting at the Mapusa taxi-stand as part of an awareness campaign on the environmentally destructive mega projects in the State.
Over 200 youth from different parts of the State converged in Mapusa to take part in the campaign and show solidarity with the protest against the mega projects planned in the State.
Speaking further, Fr Pereira said the job of elected representatives was to legislate and discuss issues affecting the State but in the last eight months just one-day session was held in the August House of the Goa Legislative Assembly.
“It’s time people come out and question the government. People from every constituency should question their respective MLAs. People of Mapusa should question Joshua D’Souza. He is a young MLA. People should ask him about his stand against the destructive projects in the State,” he said.
Fr Pereira conceded that environmental degradation was part of development but wanted the degradation to be minimal.
“If degradation is more than the benefit and comes at the cost of the survival of humanity, then it’s destruction,” he said.
Co-convenor of Goencho Avaaz Viriato Fernandes gave a detailed presentation on how the three linear projects in the State were planned to handle coal.
According to Viriato Fernandes increase in coal handling in the State will sound the death knell of tourism in Goa.
“Several tourists come to coastal Calangute and Baga and many of them come to Mapusa for the Friday market. No one will visit Calangute or Mapusa once the coal residue invades the coasts and the Mapusa town,” Fernandes said.
He said the Aldona jetty was planned with the intention of handling coal and Aldona was just three kms from Mapusa. Creson Antao also spoke on the occasion.
