TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: The rains didn’t dampen plans and spirits as hundreds turned up with placards outside the Tiracol fort in support of the villagers of Tiracol protesting the proposed golf course. A public meeting organised by the Tiracol Rakhonn Manch saw young and old from north as well as south Goa show their support to villagers opposing the project.
Speaking at the meeting, a host of people from the activist scene, as well as locals, spoke of how and why the project was a bad idea. Francis Rodrigues, local panch and president of the manch informed the audience of how Leading Hotels who are promoting the project used “illegal and fraudulent means” to claim ownership of the entire village.
“We don’t need Special Status for Goa. All we need is for this nexus between the government and private parties to stop. People from Leading Hotels made people sign over their land in exchange for money but by law this land is agricultural and can’t be sold,” he said.
Fr Maverick Fernandes from the Center for Responsible Tourism said the coming of the project would not only create a displacement of people but of occupation too. He said the villagers had in the past and still continue to cultivate cashew and coconuts as well as other crops, “calling it barren is not right. On the contrary, the company is turning the village from beautiful to barren rather than the other way around as they claim in their advertisements,” he said.
Environmentalist Rajendra Kerkar highlighted the side effects of a project of this magnitude on the environment. “Over a thousand trees are expected to be cut down. The village that now relies on Maharashtra for water will struggle for water. The biodiversity of the village will be destroyed. It is high time all the villagers show support to Tiracol in rejecting this golf course and get together to save the village,” he said.
Speaking along similar lines of saving the village Nuvem based activist Zarine D’Cunha questioned the minister’s pre election promises calling for revolt against the changing face of Goa. “Where are the ministers that made big promises to the citizens before the elections? And where are they now? With issues like land grab, mining, casinos, marinas and now this golf course, the character of villages are beginning to diminish and because we are keeping quiet, the government is taking advantage of it,” she said asking those gathered to create a revolution of sorts to fight back.
Cheered by residents from several areas of the Salcette taluka, Fr Eremito Rebello recalled the scrapping of another golf course project in Betul thanks to people’s power. He said villagers from neighboring Assolna, Cavelosssim and Betul managed to, with their objections, reject and keep at bay the golf course project there.
Other speakers that sent out the message of uniting as a state to refuse the project included Dr Francisco Colaco, Advocate Prasad Shahapurkar, RTI activist Rajan Ghate and Sabina Martins.
