PORVORIM: Former minister for Town and Country Planning (TCP) Vijai Sardesai on Tuesday questioned the stand of his successor Chandrakant Kavlekar on the contentious issue of zone change under Section 16B of TCP Act, which was strongly objected to by the latter during his tenure as Leader of Opposition.

Supporting the demand of TCP department, Sardesai also sought to know whether the new government would maintain continuity of the policy or it would be reviewed overall.

“Government is a successive process. So, I would like to know whether this government will maintain the policy decisions of its previous government or it will be reviewed?” he questioned.

“The biggest challenge before the new minister is 16B. I want to know his stand as while in Opposition he had raised strong objection to it. Even the Opposition party president had objected to it,” former Deputy CM said.

“Till recently, I was minister of this department, and hence, despite being in Opposition, I will not oppose the demands for grants,” Sardesai said.

Bringing to the notice of the House the various decisions taken by him as minister, Sardesai said that he had stood with the public and stopped some of the major projects, such the housing construction at Carmona in Salcete.

“Now it is going to be challenge before the new Minister how to maintain the status quo. I was under tremendous pressure from various quarters, where people, whose projects are stalled, came to me through various means. But I did not bow down to those pressures,” GFP MLA said.

He said that he and his party would be keeping a watch on all the decisions taken by the new minister. “There is no investors’ confidence in Goa that is because the policies are not backed by vision,” he said adding we would also be keeping major watch on your department on the controversial Tiracol Golf Course project, which will approach you for the conversion.

Listing out the steps he had taken after he took over the portfolio, Sardesai said that he took a progressive decision to fix one Regional Plan, weeding out entire confusion.

He said that the amendment to TCP Act was made to ensure that there is no ghettoisation of Goa through illegal plotting of lands.

The former Minister urged Government to make necessary financial provision for drafting comprehensive development plan (CDPs) for the planning and development areas (PDAs), where the outline development plans (ODPs) are finalised.

He also stressed on the urgency to construct Kabrasthan at Margao, a long pending issue.