VIBHA VERMA
vibha@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: Deltin Jaqk will be the first of the four offshore casino vessels to halt its operations this year with its conditional licence expiring in August-end. M V Casino Pride 1, Deltin Royale and Casino Pride 2 will follow the queue if the Goa government fails to finalise any of the four identified rivers to shift the vessels by year-end.
According to a Cabinet decision in 2013, each of the casino operators was granted operational licences for five years with an undertaking to shift out of River Mandovi within two years of signing it. As the deadline inch closer and the government still to decide a location, a tense situation is bound to arise.
Additional Secretary (Home) Sanjiv Gadkar was clear that on the day the deadline for fulfilling the undertaking to move out of the Mandovi was over, casino operations on that vessel will cease.
“The Cabinet had taken a decision that the conditional licence granted for five years comes with a condition that within the initial two years they have to move out of its current location. Since the alternate place is not finalized, the casino operations will be stalled. But it can continue to anchor as ‘vessel’ until shifted,” Gadkar told Herald.
As per the information, the two-year’s deadline to Deltin Jaqk expires on August 29, 2015 followed by Casino M V Pride of Goa on September 12, 2015, Deltin Royale in October and Casino Pride II’s deadline ending on December 3, 2015.
The Home Department has chalked out a mechanism to ensure the casino operators do not violate the law. Gadkar stated that a joint team comprising of undersecretary (Home) and officials from excise, police and related government agencies will maintain a vigil through surprise checks to ensure there is no violation.
In 2013, the then chief minister Manohar Parrikar had told the legislative assembly that the government has got undertakings from all offshore casinos anchored in River Mandovi to move out of the River by 2015-end on case to case basis, failing which their licences would not be renewed.
The government, in May identified Aguada Bay, and Rivers Sal, Chapora and Zuari to shift the casino vessels, which were agreed to by the stakeholders in a meeting held earlier this month with a condition the State provides suitable infrastructure.
The anti-casino lobby is, however, up in arms to shift the vessels out of Goa waters reminding the ruling coalition that its earlier promise to its citizens was that Goa will be free of off-shore casinos. “For the time being, the vessels should be thrown in the high seas or out of harm’s way near Mormugao harbour. But it should soon be out of Goa completely,” activist Anand Madgavkar said.
NGO Goa Bachao Abhiyan is of similar view while it also raises apprehension that shifting to any of the four locations is bringing casinos closer to the people. “The government is making it more accessible to the people. We have been objecting its presence in any part of the State. Our demand is ‘NO Casino,” Convener Sabina Martins said.
