Goemkarponn desk
PANAJI: Aldona MLA Adv Carlos alvares Ferreira hit out at the government for conveniently ignoring the previous promises made in previous speeches that have not been delivered while attempting to paint a rosy picture of the state.
Speaking during the motion of thanks to the Governor’s address, Adv Ferreira told the Legislative Assembly that Goa’s villages have become a victim to dangerous highways largely thanks to a lack of planning leaving people stranded.
“Last year in your speech you promised that four-laning of the national highway 66 from Patradevi to Margao Western bypass would be completed by the end of 2023. Nothing is mentioned in this year’s speech and neither is the road completed in fact far from it. You said that the lane road connecting the newly constructed Manohar International Airport at Mopa would be completed by October 2023. I have been to Mopa several times and it is not completed at all,” Adv Ferreira charged.
He further said that even the stretches that have been completed have become “highways of death” for the innocent people of Goa.
“Roads have become highways of death. People are zooming on highways to their deaths. The planning was done without any thought. If you block the road (at the Peddem junction) the people of Camarkhazan and Acoi and even those coming from Thivim will have no way to cross the road. You have already closed the road at Camarkhazan. There is no alternative if you block it,” he said.
“But when you have a highway passing through a city which cuts villages. They cannot build it without thinking about the local needs. You cannot say, we build the road and have a highway and you die there,” he added.
Adv Ferreira raised the issue of permissions being given for high-end luxury villas with private swimming pools while residents of the villages of Goa have no water for their personal consumption.
“Where is all this water going to come from if you cannot supply water for the people,” he added.
Adv Ferreira also took the home department to task for what he said was arresting innocent people just to show that the case has been cracked in record time.
“What is missing from the Governor’s speech among all the crime statistics is how many of the people who have been arrested have actually been chargesheeted, how many have been discharged. You are ruining people’s lives. An innocent man should not be roped in while a criminal goes scot free,” he said pointing to a case in his constituency where a person was arrested despite his location showing that he was at home and the charges against him were ultimately dropped.
“Proper investigation. Don’t put innocent people inside. Their life changes. They become totally against society, police machinery. You can make criminals out of innocent people,” he said.
Adv Ferreira also raised the issue of poor quality tourists, failure to repair bandhs, IPB scams, irregular distribution of welfare benefits, and the government’s failure to give NOCs for sanctioned posts in aided educational institutions.
