Chief Minister hands over invitations to members
TEAM HERALD
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PANJIM: “We have reached a point of no return and the 3rd Lusofonia Games will be held in Goa as planned from November 2 to 10 in Goa, given the high level of confidence displayed by the local Organising Committee as well as the Goa Olympic Association and the Government,” asserted ACOLOP secretary general Mario Rosa of Angola.
“We are all going to work for the success of the Games and we strongly believe in what has been told to us by the organizing committee and also what we have seen,” remarked Rosa, at a press conference, here, on Friday.
“We know that work has been delayed due to change in Government but we need to repose full confidence and trust in the organizing committee. Certainly, there should be no doubts that Games will be held in Goa and as such the question of shifting the venue or postponement at this stage does not arise at all,” remarked the ACOLOP official.
To some persistent questions as to what will happen if Goa is not in a position to host the Games, even when Rosa was reiterating that even Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar was working overtime for the success of Games, GOA president, Shripad Naik, MP interjected to say that all works were going on as per the schedule and deadlines and that the entire infrastructure would be ready well on time for hosting the prestigious event.
The ACOLOP delegation headed by its president, Alex Vong of Macau visited two of the venues and took stock of the progress. They had a fruitful general assembly meeting which lasted about three hours this morning at Varca with valuable suggestions, feedbacks.
Later, they met Chief Minister, Manohar Parrikar, at the secretariat.
Rosa pointed out that Parrikar was personally monitoring the works on daily basis and that he is a man who is known to deliver. “He told us that he never likes to be a loser and he was emphatic that the Games would be a huge success. We believe in him and in his capacities,” added Rosa.
“Although we have seen the progress despite starting very, we had a lot of questions for the organizing committee in the meeting today. We recognize the delay due to several factors and we do recognize the efforts being put in by the Government and others now.”
The problem of issuing visas is getting attention with the Ministry of External Affairs having already issued a circular that these will be issued gratis (free of charge) and that wherever there are no embassies or Indian missions like in S Tome e Principe, Cabo Verde, an official of the particular country would have to travel to the nearest one where the Indian missions are located with all the passports and applications so that visas would be issued in that country.
“We know that the ACOLOP technical group visited Goa about 20 days back and we have already noticed the rate of progress from then to now. We have full trust in the Organizing Committee that is expected to deliver on their promises. After all, it involves the honour and prestige of Goa and Goans,” remarked Rosa. “The Games are in your hands, so do keep on monitoring its progress.”
“Our mission is to see that the infrastructure is ready for hosting the event. It is important for school students, citizens so as to ultimately improve the quality of life,” voiced Rosa.
“There has been good progress at the athletic track at Bambolim while the work at the indoor stadium at Taleigao seems to be somewhat delayed,” observed Alex.
“We need to test the organizational capabilities and as such have planned a meeting of all the Chef de Missions in the second fortnight of August so that all technical details are discussed and checked. Our mission is to provide all help and assistance for the successful realization of the Games. We will even try to find out if there could be the possibility of issuing the accreditation cards which would be valid for entry as visas,” stated Rosa, who hoped that a solution would be found for the same since there is time to pursue the matter.
“We understand your pessimism about hosting the Games, but we have to have confidence on the hosts given their enthusiasm, dedication and sincere efforts that we have seen. These are very encouraging signs and we need to express our solidarity with our fellow member. Above all, we need to help Goa so that the State is proud of excellent infrastructure for posterity, and this is very important, as the Games will be held and all of us would have gone thereafter, while the infrastructure would remain forever and will be a legacy for Goa and Goans,” stated Rosa, since Goa has no infrastructure worth the name as of today.
Earlier, the Chief Minister presented the invitation letters to all the delegates for witnessing the Games. He gave an assurance that the works would be completed by September and that work would go on despite the rains.
Keshav Chandra, CEO, Lusofonia Games; Sandip Jaques, SAG’s ED, SAG’s Chief Engineer J Chimulkar, Gurudatta Bhakta, general secretary, GOA were also present.
