MARGAO: Goan shack owners have hit out at the tourism department alleging that its proposals to set up ‘model shacks’ is a way to get rid of local shack operators and bring in commercial players to replace them.
Referring to a proposal of the tourism department to roll out four such model shacks that will go through a ‘tendering process’, the traditional shack owners suspected a hidden agenda at play and that the model shack system will be applied for all shacks later on.
They fear that through this tendering process, not only will the bids be open for everyone and not just shack owners with experience in the field, but it will also ensure that the Goan shack owners will be easily outmuscled financially and thereby kept out of these model shacks.
They have expressed concern that once this tendering process is started, there will be very high bids from hotels and other commercial entities, which the traditional shack owners won’t be able to compete with.
In this regard, the Shack Owners Welfare Society (SOWS) plans to submit a memorandum to the coastal Sarpanchas, MLAs, the tourism minister, the Chief Minister and other concerned departments.
SOWS President Cruz Cardozo said they wish to thank Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte for his recent statement that shacks are the backbone of the tourism industry.
Cardozo added that they have nothing against the minister but feel he may be misguided by the tourism department when it comes to such proposals. He further pointed that shack owners are okay with the restrictions but are against the model shack proposal.
Cardozo also pointed out that the Society had done a lot for protecting the interests of shacks and tourism in Goa and had been in operation since the 1970s.
Other shack owners felt the tourism department should use their resources to improve the infrastructure on the beach like sanitation, lifeguard towers etc and they questioned what had happened to the past ‘high expenditure’ initiatives of the Tourism Department that never took off.
