TEAM HERALD
MARGAO: Convenor of Goans for Dabolim Only Fr Eremito Rebello on Saturday said that neither the BJP nor the Congress has pushed him to take up the airport issue, but he has gone ahead with the movement with the blessings of Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao.
Speaking at a meeting at Betalbatim on Saturday, Fr Rebello said he had approached the Archbishop after his conscience did not permit him to maintain silence on government’s move to build the Mopa airport. “My Bishop told me to go ahead with the movement if my conscience says so. I have started this movement with the blessings of my Bishop. “The BJP thinks that I have been pushed into the movement by the Congress, while the Congress thinks that it was the BJP that has forced me to take up the issue”, he said adding that the decision not to invite MLAs or defeated candidates or panchas, to share the dais was taken so as not to give an impression that the movement is political.
He thundered that the ongoing movement against Mopa is not a political issue, but a social issue since closure of the Dabolim airport would spell doom for all business related to the Dabolim airport. Fr Rebello made the clarification following misunderstanding at the Betalbatim meeting when the compere invited local sarpanch Esperance Fernandes on the dais. When the sarpanch walked towards the dais, Fr Rebello clarified that the platform is not open for the politicians and profusely apologised for the lapse. An infuriated sarpanch, however, demanded to know why she was invited to take the dais and it was only later that she put forth her views from the audience, demanding that the ministers and MLAs should go to Delhi to get the Mopa airport scrapped instead of bringing the people on the streets.
Fr Rebello lambasted the political class for fooling and misguiding the people that Dabolim airport would remain even if Mopa becomes a reality. He produced documents to substantiate his claim that Dabolim will be shut once Mopa becomes a reality.
“The Liberation of Goa is incomplete as long as the Navy is in control of the Dabolim Airport. During the Portuguese regime, the Dabolim Airport was a civilian airport and during Liberation, the Indian Navy was allowed to use the airport only to fight against the Portuguese,” said Fr Rebello.
Claiming that the new expansion at the Dabolim airport can cater tourists for the next 50 years, Fr Rebello referred to a letter dated May 1, 2000, from the Civil Aviation Ministry stating that the Dabolim Airport would be taken over by the Navy once Mopa airport is commissioned.
He also accused successive State governments of failing to take back the civilian airport from the Navy.
In his speech, Fr Jose Antonio D’Costa, parish priest of St Andrew’s Church at Vasco, warned that if the civilian airport is shifted to Mopa, the economy of the port town will crumble.
Zarina D’Cunha informed the gathering that the Mopa airport will only be feasible if it can cater to around 25 lakh passengers per day.
The meeting was addressed amongst others by Rajendra Kakodkar, Terezinha Fernandes and Kim Miranda.
The Goans for Dabolim Only Forum will have two meetings on Sunday at Cavelossim and Sao Jose de Areal to drum up support for the rally planned at the Lohia Maidan on May 15.
