“It’s high time that the Tenants and Mundkars awake before the Government can sell the whole of Goa to outsiders and Goa be ruled by them,” said Francis Rodrigues, President of St. Anthony’s Tenant & Mundkar Association (SATMA) Tiracol Goa.
The Association is a group of social workers and came into existence in the year 2010 and was registered under Societies Registration Act 1860.
Besides Francis, the president of SATMA, its secretary is Anthony Mendes with Samsung Pereira holding the post of the treasurer. The objective of this Association is to preserve the land of Goa which is owned by tenants and mundkars.
The reason of forming this association is Selling of Tiracol land by the Goa Government to builders and private companies to build a Golf Course & Resorts without the knowledge of tenants and mundkars by getting negative declaration through fraud.
Tiracol village is located on 12.5 lakhs sq.mt area with population of 300 people. The 90 per cent of this land is owned by tenants and mundkars which is sold to Private Leading Hotels Ltd. The tenants and mundkars got knowledge about the sale of land after 3 years and this was the time when this SATMA formed.
The tenants and mundkars of Tiracol have purchased order and declaration of the land under the Tenants & Mundkars Act sect 18 C, and they become deemed purchasers and cannot transfer their land by sale, lease or mortgage. On basis of this, the association filed a petition in the Mumbai High court.
After filing a petition, the Goa Government appointed a Fact Finding Committee under Administrative Tribunal Sandip Jacques. When this committee conducted a survey and the report of the Fact Finding Committee came in favour of the tenants and mundkars which made it clear that the project cannot be build on this land. The report was not in favour of Government and due to this, the Fact Finding committee was rejected by the Government. The Government itself rejected it own appointed Committee. The hearing of the petition is on August 2, 2016, after almost one and half year.
President of SATMA Francis Rodrigues said that he is challenging government that if the government wants to win in the coming election than they will have to solve the problems of Tenants and Mundkars. If it is not done than he himself will create awareness about what Government is up to by going to each and every house of Perineum.
The St Anthony’s Tenant & Mundkar Association is giving out a message to the people of Goa and all the tenants and mundkars that it’s time to awake and united fight for our land to preserve the land and existence of Goa.
