Goemkarponn desk
PANAJI: The Tourism Department has decided to have a status quo in the water sports operations and keep the Goa Tourism and Goa Electronics Limited (GEL) counter at beaches on hold.
The decision was taken by Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte after having deliberations with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, MLAs from coastal areas and the water sports association.
“Operators have been asked to follow the queue system through the GEL-developed software to do away with tout. They have assured to follow this,” said CM Sawant after the meeting.
Water Sports Operator Associations were also given a demo of the operations of the GEL run counter by the State Tourism Department today in the presence of CM Sawant, the Tourism Minister and other coastal belt MLAs.
Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte assured the operators of handing over the counters to them once the processes were streamlined and addressed the queries they raised.
“Operators have been asked to suggest how they plan to develop a systematic online and queue-managed water sports booking system within 15 days. By that time, we are keeping on hold Goa Tourism and GEL system,” he said.
However, several operators spoke to the media expressing displeasure over the introduction of GEL.
They asserted that it was not appropriate for the govt to intervene in the water sports businesses set up by them over the years through hard work by using their own financial and other resources.
“We have requested the government to let the water sports business remain with the traditional Goans and the government has agreed with us,’ said Francisco Fernandes, a water sports operator.
Meanwhile, Calangute MLA Michael Lobo said, “The stakeholders are of the opinion that this business shouldn’t go into the hands of non-Goans because of strictures passed by the High Court of Bombay at Goa. “There has to be a solution to weed out the touts and cheats in the system,” he said.
