Team Herald
PONDA: The members of Goa Mining People’s Front (GMPF) on Saturday organised a solidarity run at Ponda for immediate resumption of mining.
The solidarity run was flagged off from Farmagudi Fort and culminated at Ponda Kranti Maidan. A large number of mining dependents participated in the run wearing black T-shirts and pants.
GMPF President Puti Gaonkar, who participated in the run, said that they are agitating peacefully for past 25 days for their demand but so far no solution has been found by the government. He said that the government should give serious consideration to their demand.
He said that the mining crisis can be resolved with a minor amendment in Goa, Daman and Diu Concession and Abolition Act of 1987, by bringing an Ordinance. “There is no other way for immediate restart of mining,” he said.
He said that government should introduce an amendment to Section 2 of the 1987 Concession Abolition Act which abolished concession effective from 1961. He said this Act is retrospective and not prospective. He said that this Act should be amended by bringing in an ordinance with prospective effect in section 2 of the Act to make it effective from May 22, 1987, only then the mining could be continued for more years and thus could be restarted immediately in Goa.
“If this amendment is changed, the question of having renewed leases in 2007 will not arise,” Gaonkar said and claimed that some mining dependents are under stress due to loans and lack of income to run their families.
He said that the mining dependents would wait for a solution till July 3 and thereafter would stage dharnas in front of the houses of MLAs and ministers till July 18. He also warned that the mining dependents would stage a massive dharna at Goa Assembly on July 19 if no solution is found before that.
