Team Herald
MARGAO: In a significant development, Goa Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) chairman and Curtorim MLA, Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco, announced that the State government has decided in principle not to grant permission for the controversial Sunburn EDM festival to be held in South Goa.
This decision comes in response to widespread protests from local residents. Lourenco stated that this stance was taken after a meeting with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, which included several MLAs like Mauvin Godinho and Antonio Vas.
He said that prior to this, he had personally followed up many times with the CM and that at the meeting, conveyed their collective opposition to Sunburn being held in South Goa. “We met separately with the Chief Minister and told him we do not want Sunburn in the South,” Lourenco said, emphasising that the government has, in principle, decided against allowing the festival in South Goa.
The GIDC chairman explained that his role was to convince the government not to support the event’s
relocation to South Goa, as opposed to engaging in public demonstrations.
Lourenco clarified that he respects those who opposed the festival but expressed disappointment at being personally targeted as if he were responsible for bringing Sunburn to South Goa. He pointed out that Sunburn has been held in Goa for many years.
“Sunburn has been here for many years. When the Congress government was there with Digambar Kamat as the Chief Minister, I was the first-time MLA at that time and then Sunburn was going on,” he recalled.
The GIDC chairman revealed that this was the first time he had met with Sunburn’s organizers. During this meeting with the CM, Lourenco said he told the organisers not to hold the event in South Goa. He stressed that he had never previously interacted with the organisers or accepted any favours from them or any pass for the festival or even a cup of tea.
Regarding the GIDC’s role, Lourenco stated, “I had said in the IDC, we have got no mandate to give it. So IDC was out.” He acknowledged that while the event organisers had tried to explore options by talking to staff, the government was firm in its decision not to allow the festival in South Goa.