TEAM HERALD
TIVIM: With property belonging to the Tivim comunidade depleting at a rapid pace due to rampant encroachments, fingers are now being pointed at various directions against those who may have actively or tacitly supported the encroachers.
While the comunidade members have claimed that authorities have done virtually nothing to protect comunidade land, they have also blamed politicians for remaining silent on the encroachers, many of whom constitute their vote bank.
“Those working in the office of the Administrator of Comunidades have colluded with trespassers and encroachers on the comunidade land or with the corrupt members of the managing committees. They have ignoring complaints by respective attorneys on such illegalities and complaints made by comunidade members and/or by the gaunkers/members,” said Tivim Comunidade President Peter Sequeira.
Admitting that encroachment had been unchecked on Tivim comunidade land, Tivim MLA Kiran Kandolkar has also acknowledged that politicians could have shielded the encroachers.
“I agree to it (politicians supporting encroachers), but it has not happened during my tenure,” said Kandolkar.
When asked if he had done anything to protect comunidade land from encroachments, Kandolkar replied, “It is not my duty. It is the duty of the comunidade to protect its land. I don’t back or support illegal activities of any kind.”
Incidentally, present comunidade members have also leveled accusations against former committee members, claiming that many of them in connivance with other authorities had illegally allotted plots to people and had siphoned off crores of rupees belonging to the comunidade.
Jude Carasiol D’Lima, who was president of Tivim Comunidade from April 2004 to March 2007, said: “Prior to me, Sydney Serros was the president. When I was elected president in April 2004, Sydney was the attorney. After that, I was not in the committee. All allegations are false and my committee was clean. We followed proper procedures and also maintained proper accounts in the bank.”
Added another former comunidade member, Anastasius Andrew D’Lima: “It’s a false allegation. I was in the committee from April 2007 to March 2010. Then the following year, they put a case that elections were not conducted properly after 2010 (i.e. 2011-2013) and I was a caretaker. All these allegations are baseless and every thing was clean and clear. The plots were sold all the files are there. All the properties were sold through proper channels.”
