Campal residents vow to save Francisco Luis Gomes Garden

PANJIM: Residents of Campal on Tuesday vowed to save the Francisco Luis Gomes Garden, also known as Campal garden, located near the Directorate of Health Services in the city.

Residents said that they will fight tooth and nail and not allow the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) to hand over the Campal garden to a private company for its management and maintenance.

Armando Gonsalves, a well-known resident of Campal said that under the garb of maintenance, the City Corporation allegedly wants to hand over the garden to a private company. 

CCP Mayor Rohit Monserrate has allayed fears of the Campal residents by making a statement that there is no immediate plan to hand over the particular garden to any private firm for maintenance or the management.

“In the future, we don’t know. But as of now, we are not giving it to anybody. Maintenance and privatisation are two separate things. Even if we give the garden to somebody it will be only for maintenance and it will continue to be a public place,” the Mayor had said.  

However, the residents feel it’s a ‘sham’. “In our opinion it is a sham. The CCP wants a private party to maintain the garden…that is a backdoor entry to give it away,” Gonsalves said.

“We are very clear; we will not allow private parties to come in…We are ready to collaborate with the CCP for maintenance of the garden,” he added.

Former councillor Patricia Pinto said that the CCP has not responded to the letter written by the residents of Campal heritage precinct.

“We have requested the CCP to call us for a meeting so that we can find a solution if they are facing shortage of funds and manpower to maintain the Francisco Luis Gomes Garden. We haven’t received any reply from them yet. We will wait for a few more days and then send them a reminder,” Pinto said.

“It’s a small garden. The authorities should avoid privatising it. The CCP officials should agree to maintain the garden on a public-community-based partnership project as requested by the residents of Campal,” Jack Ajit Sukhija, another resident of Campal said.