PONDA: A day after MGP workers made trucks parked on the Curti National Highway (NH) move away, around 50 members of Ponda Goods Transport Association met the Ponda police station and expressed their concern about the lack of parking for around 300 trucks. They demand for parking space and questioned where they are supposed to park the heavy vehicles.
However, despite their communication to the Ponda Police Inspector Suraj Halarnkar, where they conveyed the problems faced by them, the transporters decided to urgently meet Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to find solutions on and provide them with truck parking space.
They further pointed out that in the absence of such space, their trucks, which transport goods from and to industrial estates, are facing problems.
Addressing mediapersons, Association President Nagraj Naidu said that since the last fifteen years, they have been demanding that a truck parking terminus be provided to them. Reiterating that this demand has not been fulfilled, he referred to Thursday’s incident and said that now 300 trucks are struggling to find space for parking.
Naidu added that the government should provide them space near the Goa Meat Complex, Sanjivai Sugar Factor or any other nearby industrial estate until the truck terminus infrastructure is made in Goa.
He added that with the slowdown in the economy, the truck drivers have to wait for more than 15 days before they get a return trip to their native State.
“Few years ago, once the truck arrived in Goa, they were getting return trips in just four days time. But now, whenever these goods carrying trucks, enter Goa, they have to wait for more than 15 days, before they get return trips. Hence, in the absence of parking space, they park their trucks on the roadside and wait until then,” he added.
Meanwhile, some transporters and locals blamed the MGP leaders for not providing the truck terminus despite MGP being part of successive governments for the past many years and holding key portfolios like Transport and PWD.
