RP 2021 designed for corporates and politicians: Matanhy

PANAJI: Accusing the Digambar Kamat government of "playing a big fraud on the people of Goa in the name of Regional Plan 2021 which is designed to help the corporates", former Cortalim MLA and tourism minister Matanhy Saldanha has demanded that the plan be withdrawn immediately.
"RP 2021 is designed to help only the corporate sector and politicians to loot and plunder Goa and is not in the interest of the people of Goa," said Saldanha, while castigating the chief minister of paying mere lip service to the common man by claiming that his government was for the aam admi.
He pointed out that "all of a sudden, a railway line was proposed from Codli to Sanvordem in Sanguem taluka," and observed that the same was neither present in the cancelled RP 2011 nor in the draft RP 2021.
"The railway track is proposed to pass through six mines including those of Sesa Goa and Fomento among others and this clearly shows for whom Digambar Kamat's heart beats for," Saldanha said.
"The very fact that a railway line that calls for heavy investment is proposed to be laid for the mining sector indicates that there is plenty more ore that they propose to extract and that is why the RP 2021 is a mere tool for the corporate houses and politicians to further loot and plunder Goans, as many present day politicians are involved in the mining industry," he said.
Saldanha lamented that hundreds of truck owners have not yet realized that their livelihood is proposed to be snatched away from them by the railway line.
"Digambar Kamat is running with the hare and hunting with the hounds on this issue," he said, and drew attention to the fact that on the one hand, the chief minister had proposed a mining corridor for the trucks and at the same time had proposed a railway track as the minister for town and country planning.
He demanded that the government forthwith drop the proposed railway line.
"How many highways and railway lines can a small state like Goa carry?" Saldanha said.
"The very fact that various village groups are opposing the RP2021 with valid reasons is a reflection of the fact that RP2021 has not been prepared in the people's interest as the suggestions and recommendations from panchayats, village level committees and gram sabhas have not been incorporated," he added.