TEAM HERALD
OLD GOA: Old Goa Sarpanch Prakash Amonkar said the panchayat has completed the formalities for allotting the stalls and all the stalls are likely to be set up by Tuesday.
“Since there was a delay in constructing the footpaths, laying the road surface and other works, demarcation of the stalls could not be done well ahead of time,” Amonkar added while explaining the delay.
On the other hand, the issue of setting up private stalls remained deadlocked with the owners not getting any relief from the authorities concerned.
However, one of the private stall owners Mario Viana who was setting up stalls blamed the church authorities for their plight.
“The exposition committee suggested that stalls in private properties should not be allowed,” Viana claimed while expressing regret that the church officials who are part of the committee did not even have the courtesy to approach them and discuss the issue.
When asked whether he approached the exposition commissioner with his grievances, Viana informed that he went to meet Sanjith Rodrigues but he was not available in his office and it was informed that he is out of station.
However when contacted, Exposition Committee Convenor Fr Alfred Vaz denied that the church authorities had anything to do with the issue. “We had only recommended that stalls should be allotted only on one side of the road, from Divar ferry point to Gandhi circle, to avoid congestion of traffic along the route,” Fr Vaz informed while adding that no recommendation was made to disallow private land owners from installing shacks in their properties. “The decision was made by the collector based on the SC directives,” he added.
