MARGAO: Town and Country Planning Minister Vijai Sardesai after hearing the grievances of South Goa Tourist Taxi Association arranged for a meeting with Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar and officials concerned on Wednesday after the cabinet meeting to sort out their problems and constitute the Tourism Regulatory Body.
He agreed with the tourist taxi owners that there should be a stop to ad hocism and the government should set in place a set policy for five or ten years concerning the tourism trade in Goa and its stakeholders given the fact that tourism is a major industry of Goa with many Goans depending on it.
The tourist taxi owners were accompanied by Benaulim MLA Churchill Alemao who complained bitterly about the harassment meted out to the tourist taxi owners by transport officials and RTO by challaning them every now and demanded that since they were ethnic Goans, the tourist taxi owners should be given some leniency.
“Why are the traffic police and RTO officials always at Khareband junction?” he asked implying that they were at Khareband only to harass the tourist taxi owners.
The taxi owners also complained bitterly against the tour operators whom they accused of not only stealing their business but also overcharging the tourists. “While we charge at lower rates than what is notified in the Official Gazette because of lack of business, the travel operators charge exorbitantly as their rates are not notified,” said the Association president Vincy Carvalho.
