VASCO: Members of Mormugao Stevedores Association has raised serious concern over the privatisation of berth numbers 10 and 11 of Mormugao Port Authority (MPA) as it was feared that it will affect the livelihood of thousands of people, especially the locals of Mormugao.
The Mormugao Stevedores Association member said the State government should immediately intervene in the matter and stop the privatisation of the berths, giving relief to the employees who are working with stevedoring companies for the last several years.
Mormugao MLA Sankalp Amonkar said monopoly to any organisation will affect business and lead to closure of many other companies thereby leading to mass unemployment.
Later, Amonkar, Mormugao Stevedores Association president Lindon Rodrigues, Parkkot Maritime Agencies Pvt Ltd proprietor Vinod Parkkot, Custom House Agents, Mario Furtado and representative of Bhavani Shipping Navin Shetty, among others, also called upon Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and handed over a memorandum urging him to look into the matter and to immediately stop the privatisation of the general cargo at the two berths, and provide relief to the workers working with stevedoring companies for the last several years.
The Association has demanded clarity on memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the MPA and Delta Infralogistics Worldwide Ltd, on a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) basis for a period of 30 years.
