Goa: ‘Restore livelihood or will hold dharna’

PANAJI: Owners of the kiosks that were demolished outside Goa Medical College (GMC) have threatened to go on a dharna if their livelihoods are not restored. They met with St Cruz MLA Tony Fernandes to demand allotment of space to restore the kiosks.
“All those that have suffered the demolition are from the economically poor class. We have been requesting the MLA to resolve our issues ever since the kiosks were razed last month, yet it has yielded no result. We will discontinue our agitations and instead assemble at Azad Maidan and protest,” said Dominic, one of the kiosk owners.
They said that due processes must be followed by the collector to restore the kiosks through the revenue department instead of delaying the process by getting the panchayat involved.
“If the authorities can take a day to demolish the kiosks deeming them illegal, it should not take them over a month to check our FDA permit, tax records, etc, and rehabilitate us,” another kiosk owner said.
Speaking to the people, the MLA showed them plans of the four-laning of the Bambolim road and said that he has discussed the matter with chief minister Pramod Sawant.
“I have presented the facts and figures to the CM and he has assured his cooperation in the matter. Ideally, there shouldn’t be an issue with the erection of kiosks on the road outside GMC. This is a question of people’s livelihoods and there shouldn’t be any compromise in this just for the sake of development,” he said.