PANJIM: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Thursday warned that forces operating to create obstructions in the smooth functioning of taxi services at the Mopa International Airport through Goa Taxi App will be dealt with very sternly.
After meeting the, panchayat members and councillors from Pernem Taluka in the presence of Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte and Pernem MLA Pravin Arlekar at Altinho-Panjim, Sawant said that flights will commence operations at the new Mopa Airport from January 5, and appealed to the people of Pernem Taluka not to fall prey to those doing politics over taxi issue. Strict action will be taken against those trying to defame Goa.
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Claiming that panchayat members from Pernem and the Pernem Municipal Council are all convinced about the benefits accrued through the app service, Sawant said, “I have asked them to go and convince the taxi operators in their respective areas. Goa Taxi App will operate with a queue system through a counter managed by Goa Electronics Ltd.
The Chief Minister reiterated that people from Pernem will be given preference at the new airport and added that the Tourism Minister had discussed elaborately about the issue with all the three taxi associations.
“If they (taxi operators) want to run their taxi on Mopa they will have to join the Goa Taxi App,” Sawant asserted.
Meanwhile, the taxi operators from Pernem on Thursday boycotted the meeting held under chairmanship of Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to end the impasse over the taxi issue at the new Mopa Airport.
Though taxi operators had come to Altinho-Panjim they refused to participate in the meeting after the government refused to allow RTI activist Sudip Tamankar to represent them in the meeting.
Speaking to mediapersons outside the meeting venue, Tamankar said that providing yellow and black taxi counter at Mopa Airport like Daborlim Airport and railway stations and bus stands is mandatory as per the law. If the government is not providing taxi stand for local taxi operators, then they will rather not get into taxi business in protest.
Tamankar demanded that the State government should first notify the yellow and black taxi stand at Mopa and then start imposing condition.
Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte said that the government will take overall review of the situation regarding taxi operations at Mopa Airport on January 2, after which the next course of action will be decided.
Claiming that over 1,000 taxi operators including those from Mandrem have already joined the Goa Taxi App, Khaunte said that if people of Pernem don’t join the app now, others will benefit out of it and they will be left behind.
“Mafia raj by some taxi operators will not be tolerated,” he warned.
