TEAM HERALD
VALPOI: Alleging that banks harass truck owners for repayment of loans, Mining North Goa Truck Owner Association (NGTOA) demanded that Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar should look into the matter and give them some relaxation in loan interest till resumption of mining.
Addressing a news conference in Valpoi late Saturday evening, NGTOA Vice President Suresh Dessai said closure of mines in the State has virtually shut down their business and they are unable to pay instalments towards loans borrowed by them from several financial institutions.
“The chief minister had made an announcement in the Assembly that trucks will not be attached by banks and truck owners should not worry if they get letters from the financial institutions to attach their trucks,” stated Dessai.
“Unfortunately, we already got the letters from court and that too from Madras and Mumbai. As the head office of the financial institution is from other states, they are sending letters through their state court. We can’t attend the session in other states as we no longer have an income source. When we had borrowed loan, we did it from Goa and not from other states,” added Dessai.
NGTOA treasurer Balaji Dessai claimed that they get only assurances from the chief minister, but nothing has been done on ground level.
“NGTOA want results and not the assurances. We are trying hard to get an appointment with the chief minister for months, but I don’t know why we can’t get the appointment. We want the chief minister to hold a joint meeting with RBI officials, bank officials and truck owners and solve our problems as early as possible,” stated Balaji.
NGTOA have also appealed to trucks owners to submit Xerox copy of their court letters to the NGTOA office at Pali-Sanquelim or contact Suresh Dessai or NGTOA President Prakash Dessai.
All Goa Machines Owners Association President Sandeep Parab and NGTOA vice treasurer Yeshwant Dessai were also present.
