Carlos seeks beautification of Pomburpa spring, crackdown on illegal rooms
PANAJI: Aldona MLA Carlos Alvares Ferreira raised the issue of the dilapidated condition of the Pomburpa spring, which is possibly Goa’s oldest recognized spring having been beautified back in 1815 by two brothers Augusto Mathias Pinto and Joaquim Vicente Pinto, and asked the tourism department to once again improve the conditions there.
“The GTDC undertook the work of beautification. Now the toilet is in shambles. All the facilities are virtually crumbling. Some picnickers come there, break the bottles and there is no clean up. I would invite my colleagues to come there because it is a beautiful place and it is like a forest in the middle of a residential area,” he said.
“Repairs to be done and all facilities to be restored. Water of the spring can be utilised and it is getting wasted. It can be sold for gardening instead of getting wasted,” he said.
Ferreira also raised the issue of the now abandoned GTDC hotel at Britona which he said is now used for parking buses and the hotel itself is no longer there.
The MLA also demanded that tourist police be called in to keep a check on driving on the beaches especially in view of the recent incident that happened at Vagator.
Ferreira called for a crackdown on illegal renting of rooms especially in residential colonies which he said was becoming a nuisance among those who have bought flats to reside there.
“This is causing inconvenience to the residents who have bought the flats to stay there. They bought the flat and the pool for their own use. Suddenly they have tourists moving in and out at any time of the day or night. It is also causing danger to them and families, especially the ladies and girls. One day you’ll be looted and robbed. I think the minister can look into this and take action,” he said.
At the same time he called for the Goa government to come out with a heritage tourism policy to help people restore their crumbling old houses which he said can be made into legal home stays.
“I see that there is nothing for heritage tourism. In my Aldona constituency, there are very beautiful houses. Some are collapsing. They cannot be maintained. People are abroad. If there can be a scheme that can be linked with homestays,” he said.
Ferreira also raised the issue of unscientific sand erosion prevention measures, not working high mast lamps, touts harassing the tourists, etc.
Speaking on the issue of Information Technology, he asked the minister to help the panchayats with their websites pointing out that in all the panchayats of the Aldona constituency, the websites are either not working, flash security warnings or have not been updated or they do not have any relevant information besides some old pictures.
The MLA also asked the Sports Minister to look into the issue of employees taken on contract basis in the sports department as well as the GFDC, which he said should be regularised since they have been working for so many years since it’s inception.
Loading ...
