Team Herald
PANJIM: A day after Town and Country Planning (TCP) Minister Vijai Sardesai talked of ‘freezing’ development in Salcete, if there is unanimity amongst people and the MLAs, the Congress party on Tuesday termed it a “blackmailing tactic”.
The Congress has challenged the Minister to bring in specific legislation in the State Assembly to freeze development.
Addressing a press conference, Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) spokesperson Siddhanath Buyao said the statement is merely a blackmail technique by the minister who thinks that people will be afraid of him.
He said that if the Minister was wise enough he would not have spoken about freezing development but providing infrastructure like water, power and sewerage.
“I would like to tell Vijai that the people’s movement against PDAs was specific with its demands. The opposition is for haphazard and vertical development in the State. And their demand is not specific to Salcete. They are talking about issues across the State,” the Congress leader said.
“If the Minister has guts then bring legislation or a Bill in the House on these lines of freezing development. Send it to a select committee and invite suggestions from Panchayat bodies and the locals,” he added.
Buyao said the Minister has handpicked Salcete indicating his ‘anti-minority’ mentality, the same thinking which BJP has been carrying in the State. “In each step, Vijai is certifying that he is the B Team of the BJP in Goa. His ‘Mission Salcete’ is to blackmail, threaten and confuse the people in the taluka,” he charged.
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No need to freeze development in Salcete: MLA
The Nuvem MLA Wilfred D’Sa has said that there is no need to freeze development in the Salcete taluka, rather people should be allowed to decide what they want to do with their land. He was commenting on the idea of freezing development of land in Salcete. “Freezing won’t help; orchard properties that are sold by dividing them into plots have to obviously stop. This has no benefit to the State and the land is lost,” he said. However, the MLA said that people shouldn’t be stopped from developing settlement lands.
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Mickky dares Vijai to stop amenities in a single Salcete constituency
Former minister Francisco Xavier alias Mickky Pacheco today dared Town and Country Planning Minister Vijai Sardessai to stop basic amenities in any one constituency of Salcete taluka leave alone the entire taluka and said he would then teach Vijai a befitting lesson. “This government has not been able to bring about any development so leave aside development, let him announce in which area he will stop the basic amenities so as to harass the people of Salcete,” he said.
