Team Herald
CALANGUTE: Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who claimed that BJP did well under him and BJP, is considering the possibility of developing the space where the defence expo was held as an exposition ground.
He said there is considerable opportunity to get other expos which could mean employment for locals in jobs like catering and driving taxis. As the events would be held for a week and would not be permanent there would be no migration.
He, however, added that this would be done only after consultations with local politicians and the people of the area. He added that he wanted to have the Defence Expo 2018 in the same place.
Speaking on the sidelines of the launch of the Le Meridien at Calangute, Parrikar said the hotel was required to encourage quality tourism. Tourism, he said, always grew when he and the BJP were in power. The State would provide infrastructure, roads, law and order which would take some time. The State, he said, perhaps did not expect tourism to grow at this pace.
He said the main attraction was Goa and it was important to retain the originality of the place in addition to ensuring good infrastructure.
Speaking on law and order, Parrikar said that with the railways and new roads being built the possibility of theft had increased. He said in 2004 when the film festival was held in Goa during the festival not a single case of pick pocketing was reported and he intended to bring a similar situation soon as that kind of situation was very important for tourism.
