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News Articles

BJP says no to SEZs in state

NT Staff Reporter

Panaji, Dec 10 The Bharatiya Janata Party, while maintaining a “no” to special economic zones in Goa, today demanded that the government freeze all such policies which would encourage population increase in the state through mass influx.

The leader of the opposition, Mr Manohar Parrikar, addressing a press conference said that all such policies should be kept on hold for at least a year, and a survey be undertaken to study the economic structure required by the state. “The BJP will corner the government during the winter session of the state assembly scheduled to begin from January 10, next year, on this issue,” he informed, adding that the MLAs on the side of the treasury benches who are genuinely opposing the SEZs, cutting across the party lines, should say so in the House.

Mr Parrikar also said that he had attended the recent meeting of the task force constituted by the government to formulate a new Regional Plan. “Even though the chairperson as well as the convenor of the task force had no courtesy to attend such an important meeting, the other task force members were of the general opinion that all the efforts to formulate the new Regional Plan would go in vain if the SEZs and such similar establishments including habitats and parks are allowed to come up,” he pointed out.

The leader of the opposition also said that unless the SEZ permissions are withdrawn and authorities directed to take back the land, the Regional Plan cannot be formulated. “The task force is convinced on this argument,” he stressed.

“Fortunately, the people are doing what the government should have done, through their opposition to the SEZs,” Mr Parrikar remarked, maintaining that the government has failed on both -- administration, and law and order -- fronts.

The BJP actively supports the agitation of the Taleigao residents against the IT Habitat coming up on the Dona Paula plateau, but in no way, is either supporting or justifying the violent act that took place at the IT Habitat, during midnight, last week, he said, stating, “the failure to maintain law and order situation in the area should be credited to the police as much as to the government.”

The administration has totally collapsed with a number of incidents proving this point, Mr Parrikar said, pointing out, “This includes violent fights between the clerks in the government office at Sanguem, fight between the doctors at the Hospicio Hospital, robbery at the city residence of a retired senior police officer, recent custodial death of Francis D’Cruz, mysterious
explosion in an apartment at Porvorim, unsolved hit and run cases at Mardol, Altinho-Panaji and so on.” We will raise all these issues during the assembly session, he reiterated.

Replying to a question, Mr Parrikar said that the Speaker, Mr Pratapsingh Rane by appointing Mr Rajesh Patnekar as the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, in place of Mr Agnelo Fernandes has followed the convention, but it is just a face saving decision as the post should have ideally gone to the leader of the opposition. “However, we are not complaining and would not boycott the meetings of the House committees,” he noted.

Answering another question, the leader of the opposition said that the BJP is totally opposed to the SEZs in the state, and had earlier maintained that had there been only two notified SEZs in the state, then a debate could have been initiated on them.

Meanwhile, the Mandrem MLA, Mr Laxmikant Parsekar said that the government has recently notified an IT Retreat coming up on a 1,64,634 sq mts of land, in the prime area, along the sea, in Pernem taluka.

“The residents of Pernem taluka oppose the project tooth and nail, and further demand that the notification be immediately withdrawn before the land mafia captures the land mass,” he added.