Team Herald
CALANGUTE: Local MLA Michael Lobo on Thursday waded into the controversy around sub-letting of beach shacks to non-Goans, pointing to this practice as one of the principal reasons for the decline in tourism across the state.
His words led to a sharp reaction from Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte, who called on all MLAs to be responsible in their public statements. “When it comes to Calangute and Baga, the sarpanch Joseph Sequeira, MLA Michael Lobo and the tourism department should work together to glorify the past of Calangute,” said Khaunte.
Earlier, Lobo picked on the food being served at beach shacks to drive the point home about decline in tourism. “We have started selling idli-sambar in shacks. This should stop. The beach shacks were given to locals to showcase their talents in cooking, to serve seafood because that is promotion of our culture. But if they've started sub-letting, then what are we trying to tell the tourists? That we're going to serve idli-sambar on the beach? If we start showing their culture on our beaches, then there is nothing left on the beach,” Lobo said, adding that the Tourism Department should take stricter action and cancel the licences of establishments.
Addressing the broader issue of tourism, Lobo shifted the blame away from social media influencers, who have been accused of tarnishing Goa’s image. “It's not the influencers who are defaming Goa. It is we who are defaming Goa and we stakeholders have to accept that,” he remarked.
Lobo also pointed to persistent issues with the taxi industry, highlighting unresolved conflicts between local taxi operators and aggregators. “The taxi issue is still not resolved, and every second day there are fights between the taxi aggregators and local taxis, and tourists suffer,” he said.
According to Lobo, the over-saturation of rental vehicles was another reason for local taxis not getting business.
“We need to put an end to this. We don't need more vehicles. Just like there's a cap on rent-a-bikes, the same way we need to put a cap on rent-a-cars,” Lobo suggested.
Additionally, Lobo criticised the failure to manage the stray dog population on Goa’s beaches, which has led to incidents of dog bites affecting tourists. “If we don't sort out our problems, Goa tourism will see dark days. Things will decline even further if we don't sort out all our issues,” he warned.