PANJIM: Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar has asked his cabinet colleague, Environment Minister Alina Saldanha to apparently “shut her mouth” on the issue of opposition to marinas at Sancoale, after she reportedly claimed of being “misquoted” by the media on the issue.
Saldanha, along with the local fishing community of Sancoale, had vehemently opposed the development of the marina that received clearance from the Goa Investment Promotion Board last month. She was of the view that the marinas will destroy the bio-diversity of the area, which is part of the coastal regulation zone (CRZ).
However, the Chief Minister on Friday told reporters, “Alina never came to me raising objections to the marina. One day she came with a newspaper and told me that she has been misquoted on the issue. She asked me what to do now. I told her ‘shut your mouth’. This is perhaps the most insulting remark a Chief Minister of a State has ever made against a cabinet colleague, and that too, a woman and a widow.
The onus is now on the Minister to clarify if she opposes marinas in her backyard or not.
The State Investment Promotion Board has granted ‘in principle’ approval for setting up two marinas at Nauxi and Sancoale villages on condition that all required permissions from the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ), and other authorities are sought. Both the affected local BJP MLAs, Alina Saldanha and Vishnu Wagh, have objected to the project as it will destroy the livelihood of fishing community in the area.
Traditionally people in the area have been harvesting fish varieties including oysters, which are an endangered species.
The local fishing community under the banner “Goenchya Ramponkarancho Ekvott” is also protesting the proposed marinas. The Congress has also strongly opposed the move stating that ‘promotion of tourism cannot be at the cost of livelihood of the traditional fishing community’.
The State bio diversity board has said that the Sancoale Marina project cannot be feasible as it will cause irreparable damage to the ecology of the area and the NIO has stated that it will severely impact the window pane oysters in the Sancoale Bay. The Goa Pollution Control Board has rejected the consent sought by the project proponent Yacht Haven, who have reapplied for the same consent after their project was given an in principle approval by the State Investment Promotion Board.
