CCP rejects govt decision on Horseshoe operations Published on: August 20, 2013 - 01:39
More in: Goa News Story Summary: City Mayor Surendra Furtado has vehemently opposed the recent decision of the state government to allow the replacement ... PANAJI: City Mayor Surendra Furtado has vehemently opposed the recent decision of the state government to allow the replacement of the off-shore casino vessel, Arabian Sea King with the much larger vessel, M V Horseshoe. Terming the decision as betrayal on the part of the Panaji legislator and Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar of all those citizens, who had elected him under the condition of judiciously protecting the interests of the capital city, the city Mayor said that the people of Panaji have had enough and will not tolerate the imposition of off-shore casinos on them. “They will soon take appropriate action to oppose the proliferation of off-shore casinos in the River Mandovi,” he noted. Asserting that the CCP will not issue licences for the offices of the off-shore casinos to operate within the Panaji city limits, Furtado claimed that the parking woes and traffic congestion will further worsen due to the particular government decision. He also cautioned that the repairs and upgradation of facilities at the St Monica Jetty would be utilised to further the interests of Delta Corporation Ltd, which has a monopoly on off-shore casinos in Goa. “The Chief Minister had said that the licences would not be renewed after their expiry in two-year time and that the off-shore casinos would have to relocate themselves elsewhere,” the city Mayor stated, questioning when the Chief Minister now has the powers to stop the casinos, why is he is waiting for his term to end. Furtado further criticised the home department, the Captain of Ports and the Goa State Pollution Control Board for having participated in collective decision towards transfer of the licence to the much bigger vessel, M V Horseshoe. “We already see garbage being discharged by the off-shore casinos operating in the River Mandovi, which in turn is washed ashore, besides strewing of garbage on the city roads by the clients of the off-shore casinos is another menace,” it observed. The press note released by the city Mayor also lamented about the steep hike in stamp paper duties for executing leave and licence agreements and powers of attorney, adding that these duties actually should have been more rational.
