The initiative announced by Panjim Mayor Rohit Monserrate to deploy wardens in São Tomé and Fontainhas will be implemented in the first week of August.
Speaking to O Heraldo on Tuesday, the Mayor said, “I will be assigning around four to five personnel in the area. They will patrol the locality to ensure that no tourist enters residents’ houses or takes photographs of their houses without permission.”
He clarified that the move is not aimed at policing tourist behaviour or banning photography, but rather at addressing privacy concerns raised by locals. A formal communication regarding the initiative will also be sent to the police.
In October last year, Panjim Police had deployed a robot vehicle and two constables in the area following complaints about nuisance caused by unruly tourists.
Eighty members of the Community Association of Residents and Establishment (CARE), São Tomé–Fontainhas, had written to the Mayor.
CARE stated that “the unstructured and unregulated tourism activity being unleashed in the area is greatly affecting the lives of the residents in the Latin Quarters.”
The residents also sought a centralised parking solution for non-resident vehicles and met the Mayor in person to push for better regulation of tourism activity.
Monserrate assured them that he would work with relevant departments to enable direct engagement with officials. The objective, he said, is to protect the character of the heritage wards while addressing the concerns of both residents and visitors.