MAPUSA
In a snub to the government plan to form a jetty policy, the villagers of coastal Calangute on Sunday in one voice decided to oppose the formulation of the “Jetty Policy 2022” for the State.
The Calangute gram sabha, the first one after the recent panchayat elections, unanimously decided to oppose the draft jetty policy kept open for public views by the tourism department.
While moving the proposal, a resident of Calangute, Anthony de Souza said that the policy was very dangerous and appeared to serve some vested interests.
“The policy is draconian. The policy envisages formation of a jetty management committee (JMC) which will be responsible to issue tenders and licences for construction of jetties. It appears this policy is more to serve some vested interests. The policy envisages complete control over your business. I as a stakeholder will have no say at all,” De Souza said.
The moment the proposal was placed before the gram sabha, the large gathering of villagers decided to oppose the proposal without even waiting to hold discussion on the subject.
“The overwhelming sentiment of the people to oppose the jetty policy clearly shows the mistrust of the public against the government of the day. There is so much revulsion against any government move which has very wide repercussions in the State. The locals did not even wait for a discussion on the topic and decided to outright oppose the policy,” said Premanand Diukar, a resident of Calangute.
“All these policies are not in the interest of the State. Nationalisation of rivers and coal transportation is fresh in people’s minds. Today they will say the jetties are for tourism but it may be misused after that. It may be used for coal transportation with the Sagarmala project,” he added.
It may be recalled, the State government had recently announced to formulate a “Jetty Policy 2022” in order to harness the potential of the Goan waters for tourism.
The objective of the policy was to regulate the introduction and operation of any passenger cruise vessel or operators that will be using the existing or upcoming jetties proposed by any department for tourism.
The Director of Tourism, Nikhil Desai in a public notice had invited suggestions and objections from the general public on the proposed draft jetty policy.
