South Goa MP blames Lobo’s leadership for Calangute’s disrepute

Calangute: South Goa MP Viriato Fernandes on Friday alleged that MLA Michael Lobo’s leadership of Calangute is to be blamed for the disrepute of the once-popular coastal tourist destination.

Fernandes, along with members of the Calangute block Congress workers, said on Friday that Calangute was once a globally famous tourist destination but is now known as a sleazy place, a hub of prostitution rackets. “The name of Calangute has now been tarnished because of the type of leadership there”.

Fernandes claimed that govt is also bent on driving locals out of the beach shack business. “The tourism minister talks about making Goa a five-star destination. It was already a first-class place; they have made it a third-class place,” he said.

“These leaders do not have any moral values. Before the election, they took vows in temples and churches that they would never betray the locals, and then they jumped to BJP to save their skin and avoid going to jail,” the Congress MP said.

Referring to the demolition of structures in Calangute, Fernandes said, before the elections, Lobo and his wife, Deliah, now Siolim MLA, “ were crying that govt was breaking their hotel, and now when people’s houses are being demolished, they couldn’t care less,” he said.