PANJIM: Centre for Responsible Tourism (CRT), an arm of the Goa Church, has rejected the draft Tourism Master Plan and Policy, which has been kept open for public suggestions and comments.
“We would like to inform the government that we reject the draft Tourism Master Plan and Policy since the local people have not been engaged in the process of planning of the plan and policy,” Fr Maverick Fernandes of CRT said.
“This Master Plan and Tourism Policy document is blatant in its process and content and in its current form will achieve little. It appears that the institutions who wrote the master plan, are basically wishing away the people and are only interested in the coast and the land and that too, only to exploit it,” he has said.
The Tourism Department will conduct a public hearing on the plan on September 15-16, to incorporate the suggestions in the final master plan. The last date for submission of inputs is September 19.
“The protests that we are witness to in relation to tourism in Goa, will only escalate unless due consideration is given to the problems at hand. It is for the above stated reasons that we reject this Master Plan and Tourism Policy, asking the Department of Tourism to re-initiate this entire process, taking into consideration the concerns that have been raised,” Fr Fernandes added.
On Tuesday, Bharat Mukti Morcha had objected to the master plan.
