Delayed allotment hits shack owners’ biz

PANAJI: Shack operators met chief minister Pramod Sawant on Monday to complain about the inordinate delay in the shack allotment process and the discrepancies in the locations for the shacks. Some of the shack sites fall in areas used by traditional fishermen, setting the stage for conflict between the two stakeholders, said president of the Shack Owners’ Welfare Society Cruz Cardozo.

After the meeting, Sawant promised to convene a meeting on Wednesday and find a solution. “There was no need to change the locations of the shacks. There needs to be an inquiry to find out why it was changed. Now the CM will hold a meeting to sort out the issue,” said Cardozo.

“I met the tourism minister, and a solution will come,” said Sawant.

The Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) recently approved the temporary construction of 364 shacks along the state’s beaches.

“We have asked for the CM’s intervention to ensure that the traditional fishermen are not displaced. Their spots cannot be used to put up shacks. The tourism minister has agreed this is something wrong and correction is required,” said Calangute MLA Michael Lobo, who accompanied the traditional shack operators’ delegation during the meeting with the CM.

Cardozo said that the shack operators are fed up with the government’s goof-ups, which occur every year.

“This year we have lost one-and-a-half months of business,” he said. “Domestic tourists come year-round, and the foreigners have already arrived, but there are no shacks and beach beds.”

Every day, at least one charter flight from Russia arrives with tourists looking to escape the winter and soak up the sun in Goa.

The tourism department has yet to commence the shack allotment process. Stakeholders say that it will take at least 20 more days for shacks to commence operations.

“Somebody has to be made responsible for this delay. The shack allotment has been delayed, and because of this, shack operators are upset and fed up. Even the CM is upset over the delay,” said Lobo.


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