Team Herald
VASCO: The second day of the public hearing of MPT’s proposed liquid cargo berth cum fishing jetty started off at 9.30 am amidst the scorching heat on Chicalim Football Ground.
Dinesh Dias from Salvador Do Mundo continued his barrage of questions over several discrepancies in the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report.
He got an assurance from MPT that coal will not be handled at the proposed jetty. He also objected to the idea that a jetty owned by the State Government is being handed over to a corporation like MPT.
“MPT has admitted that they have dredged the outermost part of the channel called AO without an environmental clearance. This is a contempt of court,” he said after the hearing.
Custodio D’Souza, president of the Old Cross Canoe Owners’ Association, put in on record how MPT had tried to push them into signing MoU for the proposed project without consulting a lawyer. He also pointed out that MPT has not taken traditional fishermen into consideration when planning this project. “What will happen to us in the future? Earlier the beach was far away from our houses. Today, the sea is touching their houses because the dredging activities have eroded the beach. Where will we go once this project comes up?” he questioned.
MPT officials replied that they have made provisions for traditional fishermen but were not able to provide any details.
Custodio was followed by Olencio Simoes, General Secretary of Goenchea Raponnkarancho Ekvott. He objected to the hearing since the Terms of Reference (TOR) of the project was incomplete and had false information. He requested the Collector and GSPCB officials to file an FIR against the MPT Chief Engineer and the Project Consultant for giving false information, which violates in the TOR.
He objected to the fact that coastline studies of other beaches in the study area were not conducted and pointed out that the project will harm the livelihood of the people living in the coastal area.
Eight other speakers spoke during the public hearing on Day 2. The hearing was adjourned at around 7.30 pm. The meeting will continue and conclude on Monday with the reading and confirmation of the minutes of the meeting.
