Say tourists are charged normal fare, blame govt for faulty tourism policy
TEAM HERALD
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CALANGUTE: Hitting out at four MLAs for accusing them of cheating tourists, the North Goa Tourist Taxi Owners Association (NGTTOA) has insisted that their drivers charge a “normal fare” and have instead, blamed others as well as the government’s faulty tourism policy for the decline in tourists.
The NGTTOA was furious over recent remarks allegedly made by four MLAs, Rohan Khaunte (Porvorim), Naresh Sawal (Bicholim), Vishnu Surya Wagh (St Andre) and Mickky Pacheco (Nuvem) in the Assembly, blaming taxi operators for the decline of tourists in the State.
Addressing a press conference in Calangute on Saturday, a visibly upset NGTTOA secretary Vinayak Nanoskar insisted that the drivers were a “self-respecting association of owners and drivers.”
“We don’t indulge in loot and plunder like some of the MLAs. If someone puts up something on the website, it does not mean that we should be held responsible for decline of tourists in Goa,” said Nanoskar.
He expressed surprise that Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had not “uttered a single word against the four MLAs for blaming the taxi operators for the decline of tourists in Goa.”
“We will not accept the Rs 50,000 subsidy being offered to us by the chief minister as we prefer to live in honour, rather than accept something in disgrace,” stated Nanoskar.
He claimed that tourists were running away from Goa “because the government did not have a suitable tourism policy in place. The ministers and MLAs are looting Goans through their foreign jaunts in the name of tourism.”
Nanoskar termed the meter installation as another scam and warned that the taxi operators would oppose it tooth and nail, even going to the extent of surrendering their tourist taxi permits.
NGTTOA President Vasudev Arlekar also accused the hoteliers and others in the tourism industry of “looting” the tourists.
“Tourist operators have also been looting tourists by organizing sightseeing tours like jungle trips, spice gardens, etc at exorbitant rates, which is four times more than the taxi owners. The hotels have been charging tourists upto Rs 15,000-20,000 per night during the peak season, but the same is not reflected in the tariff cards of the hoteliers,’ said Arlekar.
“Tourists have shied away from Goa because of the garbage mess along the coastal belts, besides the loot and plunder by hoteliers, guest house operators and others, so why are only the taxi operators being blamed for the decline of tourists in the State?
The Russians and outsiders are also involved in the tourist taxi trade in Goa and we have been bringing this to the notice of authorities, but no action is being taken against them,” he complained.
A taxi operator, Ravindra Vengurlekar, informed reporters that they charge a nominal rate for a shorter distance which ranges between Rs 100 and Rs 150, considering the traffic jams for shorter routes, in the absence of a tariff specified by the RTO.
Even for a trip from Calangute to Baga, a lot of petrol is consumed due to frequent traffic jams along this route and so our rates cannot be termed as ‘loot’,” Vengurlekar said.
