Beach shack operators ready to fight Goa govt over model vision

PANAJI: Upset over not being consulted, the Shack Owners Welfare Society (SOWS) on Wednesday said it would fight the tourism department’s unilateral decision to set up model shacks on Goa’s beaches.
“Tourism in Goa began with beach shacks. We are the pioneers of the business, so why does the tourism department want to displace us by bringing in big players?” SOWS president Cruz Cardozo told TOI.
Just last week, the tourism department unveiled its plan to set up four model beach shacks at a cost of Rs four crore, which it said would subsequently be leased out. “The department hadn’t even consulted us once before coming up with the idea of model beach shacks. We don’t even know whom these shacks will be leased to,” Cardozo said while expressing apprehensions that the government’s move could compromise the interests of the existing operators.
SOWS is expected to hold a meeting next week to thrash out the issue, and has called for the support of all the coastal MLAs. Cardozo said the group would also submit a memorandum to tourism minister Rohan Khaunte and would meet chief minister Pramod Sawant. “We believe the tourism minister has been misguided by his department and its officials,” he said.
Anywhere between 350 and 360 beach shacks are allotted by the tourism department annually, and the allottees are selected through a draw of lots. Only local unemployed men and women are eligible to apply for beach shack allotments.
Another issue that has been niggling the shack operators is the amount of money they will have to invest if the government ultimately implements model shacks concept all along the state’s coastline. “So far, we have been building shacks within our means, and each operator spends Rs seven to eight lakh, while costs for a few may even go up to, but not exceed, Rs 10 lakh,” said Cardozo. “But now, the tourism department wants to spend Rs one crore for each model shack. Will they sell gold there? We will oppose the government’s plan tooth and nail.”
Former president of the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) Savio Messias, said the proposed cost of Rs four crore to build four temporary structures is exorbitant.