MARGAO: Tenants of the land on which the Dr Francisco Luis Gomes Memorial Trust is constructing a compound wall for an amphitheatre in the name of the Goan freedom fighter at Navelim have alleged that the project has been taken up even as the matter of the land involved is subjudice.
While objecting to the project and claiming that disputes regarding the land are mired in several cases, the tenants said they will be approaching the High Court against the project.
The tenants have stated that they will approach the HC since the District and Sessions court has given a stay pertaining to division and deletion of tenant names.
It is pertinent to note that the foundation for the project was recently laid by South Goa MP Francisco Sardinha in the presence of former MP Luizinho Faleiro for the construction of a compound wall and gates for a Central government-funded project in the name of Dr Francisco Luis Gomes. Faleiro, who is the Chairman of the Dr Francisco Luis Gomes Memorial Trust, has said that there is no stay from any court pertaining to the construction activities of the project.
Incidentally, the tenants have raised an issue of a non-related District and Sessions Court order pertaining to the deletion of the tenant names and linked it to their opposition to the amphitheatre project. However, the court has said that the present order is not linked to the construction activity, and that the tenants are free to raise the issue separately.
“It is hereby clarified that the present order shall not have any impact on the fresh cause of action, if any, which the appellants have over the alleged construction activity in the suit property, and the appellants are free to approach the appropriate forum in respect of the grievance over the new cause of action as regards construction activity in the suit property and obtain necessary relief,” stated the court order.
The tenants have claimed that cases pertaining to the land where the project has been finalised are pending in four different courts, including South Goa District Court and Joint-Mamlatdar’s office.
Speaking to reporters, Shantu Rodrigues, whose father was a tenant, alleged that the said land has been fraudulently divided, besides deleting the name of tenant Alex Rodrigues, after division.“We want justice and nothing else. We are not ready to give the land for the project. If anyone wants any project in the memory of Dr Gomes, they should preserve and protect his house, which is in a dilapidated condition,” she said.
Responding to the issue, former MP Luizinho Faleiro said that he does not own any land in Navelim and this land shown in 22/4/A and 22/6 belongs exclusively to the Dr Francisco Luis Gomes Trust. “The Trust came into possession of the land through the court decree which was signed by Dr Gomes’ family members.
I am the only custodian
of that land exclusively for the development of Dr Gomes memorial,” Faleiro told reporters.
He added, “Way back in the 1980’s, we had inaugurated a children’s park and laid the foundation stone for the library complex”.
“Subsequently, some people said they are cultivating the land and they tried to stop the construction of the library. And hence, I had to shift the library project just behind the Navelim Church,” he said. “For the last 30 years as the chairman of the Trust, I have been protecting this land in different courts. The land now belongs to the Collector’s office. The first phase of the project has started. There is no stay on the construction, and we will fight the cases in the concerned courts,” said Faleiro.
