TEAM HERALD
MARGAO: Urging the government to stop taking the people for a ride, Goans for Dabolim Only has called upon Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar to end his double speak once and for all and admit that the reason he was slowing down on his Mopa dream is because of the fast approaching 2014 Lok Sabha elections and the people’s vehement opposition to this grandiose and impractical project.
The GFDO also further said that while it may be true that the Congress government sowed the seeds of this unnecessary, anti-Goan project, it is an indisputable fact that the present BJP government led by Parrikar seems to be extremely eager to enjoy the fruits of the previous government’s misdemeanors and misguided policies, even at the cost of the people who elected the BJP to power, trusting in his promise of “parivartan”.
While welcoming the announcement of the new Dabolim airport terminal’s soft opening on December 19, GFDO Convenor Fr Eremito Rebello said there is no doubt that Dabolim international airport would be more than sufficient to cater to the entire civil aviation needs of Goa until at least the year 2035 with the commissioning of the new terminal.
On CM’s assurance that the state government would not allocate the Mopa land for any other purpose, Fr Rebello said the people now need to know what his government will do with the 81 lakh square metres of land acquired from poor Goans in case his market forces let him down.
He said the CM has also contradicted the opinions of experts like ICAO when he says “we are making Dabolim airport completely viable”. “How can Dabolim airport be made viable if Mopa is set up, when ICAO in its Dual Airport Study has prescribed a minimum annual traffic of 24 million passengers to facilitate viability of two airports,” Fr Rebello asked, saying “Goa’s current traffic of 3.5 million, or the projected traffic of 9 million for 2035 is nowhere near this benchmark”.
In fact, Fr Rebello said that Parrikar has amply demonstrated his reluctance to facilitate expansion and upgradation of Dabolim Airport by his longstanding failure to formally request the Navy for additional land and to reacquire Sy 8/1 Dabolim, which is crucial for expansion of Dabolim airport city side facilities. “This is inexplicable when he himself as Leader of Opposition had been very active in vociferously attacking the previous government for de-notifying this
land,” he added.
