GPCC president Girish Chodankar accused the government of promoting casinos illegally and letting four of the six off shore casinos to operate illegally in River Mandovi since their permissions had expired in 2018.
Girish further alleged that the government was in the process of allowing casino company to replace its vessel with a larger one which would be like an island of nearly 3300 sq mts in River Mandovi.
He informed that the private company submitted an application on March 25 this year to replace their vessel. “As per the guidelines of Captain of Ports the vessel cannot be more than 90 metres long and 16 metres in width. However, the new vessel that the casino owner wishes to bring in replacing the previous one is 122 metres long and 27 metres in width. It has 650 rooms and it will be like an island on the River Mandovi,” he stated.
He informed that the Captain of Ports has moved the file to the Ministry for approval as despite the restrictions on the size of the vessel, the government can grant permission on case to case basis.
Girish questioned whether Michael Lobo as Minister for Ports will permit a large vessel to be anchored into River Mandovi and his Panjim MLA Babush Monserrate who has promised to clean up the River Mandovi of the casinos in 100 days allow the government to permit the replacement.
Meanwhile, he pointed out that four out of the six casinos anchored in the River Mandovi had been operating illegally. He informed that the license for MV Horseshoe casino expired on August 28, 2018 whereas the licence of MV Pride of Goa expired on September 12, 2018, licence of MV Casino Royale expired on October 23, 2018 and licence of MV Boa Sorte expired on December 3, 2018.
“While the government does not allow taxis and buses to operate in the State even for a day if their permit has expired, then how can the government allow such huge vessels which are causing so much destruction of Goa to operate despite their licences being expired for nearly a year?” he questioned.
