Team Herald
PANJIM: The Centre for Responsible Tourism (CRT) launched a scathing attack on Tourism Department for failing to extend the duration of public consultation over the draft Goa Tourism Policy 2018. The association has demanded the draft, which was prepared without consulting the stakeholders, be rejected and a consultative approach adopted to prepare a fresh one.
“This plan/policy has not been gazetted and hence has no legal statute. The demand to respond within 500 words is legally unfounded and the period to file comments and suggestions should be extended to six months,” in-charge of the CRT Fr Freddy Braganca told a press conference. As on date, the department has not assured any extension in this connection.
The CRT has already submitted a set of suggestions/objections to the department before the deadline on November 12, 2018. As deliberated during a recent meeting of stakeholders hosted by CRT and Council for Social Justice and Peace over the draft plan, Braganca reiterated that not only the existing draft be scrapped, the plan be released in vernacular and distributed widely in order to encourage views from the people living in the interiors of Goa. “The fresh draft should be circulated to all the panchayats and municipalities for deliberations and decisions at the level of grassroots,” he added.
The members of CRT have also lamented that various issues plaguing the tourism sectors in the State such as sex tourism, environmental degradation, CRZ violation, cultural decay, etc have been ignored in the draft plan. Instead, Braganca alleged, attempts are made to corporatize and privatize public resources.
Commenting on the Tourism Department’s intention to focus on promoting villages, the CRT ahs charged the government with attempts to destroy the culture/heritage of Goa. “It looks as if the villages are being overtaken. If that happens, it will destroy everything,” Braganca said demanding to preserve the local community.
In a bid to garner maximum flow of international and domestic visitors to explore traditional Goan houses, the draft tourism master plan (module IV), under Culture and Heritage Tourism, speaks about identifying villages which will be given special labels and accreditations based on its specific attraction.
CRT’s response to the draft has also complained about how the basic issues such as water shortage, garbage menace, outbreak of vector borne diseases, etc are not addressed. “The claim in the draft policy that all infrastructure including utilities and other services will be put
