Calangute: Local tourism stakeholders from across the State have decided to join hands to oppose the move by the Konkan Railway Corporation (KRC) to start rent-a-bike services from the Margao railway station.
Stakeholders under the All-Goa Tourism Stakeholders Association (AGTSA) at a meeting in Calangute on Saturday also decided to meet the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant next week and present a memorandum opposing the KRC rent-a-bike service and also any attempt to bring in large corporates into the traditional Goan tourism businesses including beach shacks, watersports, rent-a-cab, tourist taxis, etc.
AGTSA president John Lobo said the KRC proposal is clearly an attempt to bring in corporates in the rent-a-bike business which will finish the small-time Goan rent-a-bike operators. “Rent-a-bike is a business of poor Goans. They don’t have the means to start any business, so they buy bikes and start this business. But now the KRC wants to start this business and finish them. We Goans will never allow this. This should be kept only for Goans,” he said.
“They want to give all the businesses – taxis , rental vehicles, watersports – which are with Goans to outsiders. Even shacks by bringing in model beach shacks,” he said.
Representatives of various tourist taxi owners associations from Margao, Thivim, etc, Shack Owners Welfare Society president Cruz Cardozo, Traditional Shacks Owners Association president Manuel Cardozo, watersports operators, North Goa Rent-a-cab Association members, All-Goa Private Bus Owners Association general secretary Sudip Tamhankar and others were also present.
Tamhankar highlighted a central government notification which deals with the introduction of EV vehicles in the transport sector bypassing all the local authorities. This would result in locals being totally sidelined in the transport businesses, he said.
