Panaji: Goa Forward Party (GFP) MLA Vijai Sardesai on Sunday alleged that govt is trying to force the Margao Master Plan 2041 without consulting locals and elected representatives.Sardesai said that govt, and particularly PWD minister Digambar Kamat who is the Margao MLA, are being secretive about the masterplan, which is delaying it further.“The plans for the masterplan that govt intends to make for 2041 for Margao, Valpoi and Ponda, particularly the one for Margao, are delayed. The plan is supposed to be a futuristic plan. We don’t know what that plan is about. Nobody is telling us anything, so what are we supposed to tell people who ask us about the plan? This is why there is opposition,” said Sardesai.Sardesai added that GFP will not allow the plan to be approved without public consent, putting people’s interests first. “The Margao plan includes Fatorda, but without stakeholder consultation, projects are included in the plan. For example, the Margao garden is now being replaced with some govt building. There needs to be development by consent. To do this, we need to put pressure on the govt. Till the time stakeholder consultation is not done, we will not allow this plan to go ahead,” he said.He also said that while the master plans for Ponda and Valpoi appear to have been finalised by those municipal councils, and obtained approvals from GSUDA, questions are being asked whether stakeholder consultations were held.
