MARGAO
With the government coming out with a notification only reducing the fees of the deck beds and garbage, leaving the shack licence fee untouched, the Goa Shack Owners Society has demanded that the Tourism department allow the 33 shack owners who could not pay the fees in the last season to operate with a nominal fee.
President Cruz Cardozo said the society had knocked on the doors of the Tourism department with a plea to reduce the shack licence fees. He, however, said the government has only reduced fees amounting to Rs 15,000, Rs 10,000 on deck beds and Rs 5,000 on garbage.
“There’s no relief provided to the shack owners in terms of reduction in the license fee,” he said.
Saying that the 33 shack owners did not complete the payment as they could not pay the hefty fees, Cruz has demanded that the government allow these persons to operate by levying a nominal fee.
“The shack owners are caught in a tight position. If they don’t pay, they are barred from applying again. We have to pay the fees. There is no relaxation. These 33 persons could not pay because the fee structure was high. Hence, we have asked the government to consider their case sympathetically,” he added.
