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CALANGUTE: Calangute residents have opposed the construction work being carried out for installing a statue of Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo at the Calangute-Baga junction in Umtavaddo.

In a memorandum submitted to Calangute Village Panchayat on Tuesday, the residents said that they were worried that erecting a statue of Ronaldo at that junction would severely obstruct free flow of traffic, aggravate traffic chaos and increase the chances of accidents on that stretch of road.

The memorandum of nine pages of signatures was signed by the locals who are opposed to the project.

In the memorandum, the locals suggested that instead of erecting the statue, a four-arm lamp could be erected at the spot as it would occupy minimum space and also provide maximum illumination to the surrounding area.  

A local, Damian Tellis pointed out that water, roads and electricity are the basic amenities that the people want. 

“Our MLA wants to give Calangute a state-of-the-art facelift, but before that let him give us basic facilities. Beautification is not considered as development. By erecting a statue of Ronaldo and other footballers is not development. We have freedom fighters and leaders in Goa whose statues can be erected,” Tellis said.

Another local also questioned the need for erecting the statue of Ronaldo, who has been accused of rape and can no longer be considered as an idol, while Goa itself has produced several stars such as Bruno Coutinho.

Last year, Calangute MLA Michael Lobo had stated that all junctions in Calangute would have statues depicting renowned footballers, starting with a statue each at the Calangute-Baga circle and at the Calangute market circle as part of the beautification of the tourism hub. However, the residents fear that the structure would aggravate the existing traffic congestion at the spot.

Calangute Parish Priest Fr Polly Lobo had earlier appealed to the people to sign the memorandum and oppose the expansion work of the roundabout, which he said, would lead to haphazard development.

Addressing the citizens, Fr Polly said that the statue at the roundabout would automatically compel the tourists to stop and click selfies which would lead to traffic congestion. 

Calangute Sarpanch Shawn Martins told Herald that the redesigning of the Calangute-Baga circle is in progress and their main aim is to ease traffic on the route. 

“At the moment the idea of the statues has been kept on hold. The statue of Ronaldo was being given to us under the CSR activity,” he said.   

“GSIDC through its circuit have planned many more roundabouts for this area. After considering the suggestions of the locals, we have made the existing circle smaller by half a meter. For seven to eight days we had a check test to see if there was an issue in the traffic flow. We have realigned the set-up of the roundabout during the trial. The PWD Engineer along with Traffic Police PI will visit to confirm if the circle is ok,” Martins said.