TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar has completely backtracked on his predecessor’s promise of shifting the offshore casinos out of the River Mandovi by declaring that “the decision to shift them out of the river was not his”.
In fact he has gone further and stated that government cannot stop the existing operational casinos as it will amount to breach of law.
“Had I taken the decision? It was not my decision,” Parsekar told media persons soon after the cabinet meeting when asked whether government will stick to its decision of shifting out casinos by the end of 2015, as promised by former Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar. This is surprising as Parsekar was a cabinet minister in the Parrikar government that had resolved not to grant casino licences to vessels if they are not ready to shift out of the River Mandovi by 2015.
Parsekar, who was ports minister in the Parrikar cabinet then, had in August 2014 informed the state legislative assembly that ‘government has in principle decided to shift casino boats from River Mandovi’. He had informed the house that currently there are only four boats operational in the Mandovi water as against the six.
On Friday, in the presence of Cabinet Minister Francisco Pacheco, the chief minister said, “We will not allow the new casinos in the state but we can’t disturb the existing casino business which is contributing to the revenue of the state.”
Parsekar said that the existing casinos cannot be stopped as it would amount to breach of law. “We fear that the casino owners might go to the court and stay our decision. We should not disturb the business which is already settled,” the chief minister claimed adding that alternate place for shifting existing casinos can be thought of.
The BJP governments have been facing criticism over allowing offshore casino operations in the State despite their promise to shift out the casinos in their election manifesto and allegations of casinos polluting the river with sewage disposal.
Meanwhile, the casino industry has promptly welcomed the chief minister’s statement that the industry should not be disturbed.
“We welcome the stand taken by honourable chief minister. This will not only provide stability to the industry but also encourage investors to invest more in Goa in tourism and other sectors,” said Shrinivas Nayak, Director, Pride group of casinos and hotels. He assured to continue support to the economy and employment generation.
