PANJIM: Stating that he is with the people of the constituency, Congress MLA from St Cruz Tony Fernandes on Friday urged IT Minister Rohan Khaunte to come out with a white paper on the IT Park at Chimbel at the earliest.
“I have met IT Minister Rohan Khaunte twice; besides, he has given me an assurance in the Assembly on the Chimbel IT Park issue, saying he would bring out a white paper on the project and explain its details to the villagers,” he said.
Fernandes said he has nothing against the project but would not go against the sentiments of the people. “I am told that it is a green industry and I want the IT Minister to explain the same to my people. Besides, even if the industry comes up, there has to be job reservations for the locals,” he said.
The MLA said the villagers are worried that the biodiversity of the village would be disturbed. “I do not want any such thing to happen. There should be no disturbance to the lake and the greenery of the area,” he said.
Khaunte has said that the first phase of IT Park at Chimbel would come up in 40,000 sq metres and would have a zero carbon footprint. Trying to assuage the concerns of the activists and the local people who had opposed the IT Park, Khaunte said that it would not create any pollution nor would it turn into a commercial or residential project.
However, of late, there have been cases of local activists being assaulted by some unknown persons.
When asked what his stand is on the assaults, Fernandes said, “I am against any kind of violence. I strongly condemn such incidents.”
He, however, urged the villagers to wait for Khaunte to come out with the project details. “Once the IT Minister gives us a report and if villagers are still not satisfied, I will be with my people,” he said.
