Keep Your Eyes Peeled Against Commercialisation of Panaji Riverfront, Warns Panaji Councillor Jack Sukhija After Jetty Tender Withdrawal

~ Panaji Councillor Jack Sukhija thanked civic campaigners, including the late Dr Joe D’Souza; Aam Aadmi Party, Goa President, Valmiki Naik;  Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and Revenue Minister Atanasio Monserrate for the intervention and sought transparency on reasons for the withdrawal.

Goa Khabar:Panaji councillor Jack Sukhija has urged residents to remain vigilant against the commercialisation of the capital’s riverbanks, even as he welcomed the Goa government’s decision to withdraw the Captain of Ports’ request for proposal for the tender for the operation and maintenance of its terminal and 10 jetties.

Addressing a press conference in Panaji on Saturday, Sukhija said the withdrawal should be seen in the larger context of growing pressure on public spaces along the Mandovi riverfront. He had earlier demanded the cancellation of the tender, which proposed a 30-year concession, extendable by another 10 years, raising concerns over the long-term control of public infrastructure by a private operator.

“If you look at the entire riverfront, it is virtually being subjected to enclosure,” Sukhija said, pointing to the Captain of Ports buildings, the jetties, the ferry wharf and the stretch of adjoining buildings. He cautioned that the gradual transfer of public spaces to private interests for commercialisation could restrict access for local communities and displace existing uses of the riverfront.

Sukhija also questioned the circumstances surrounding the withdrawal of the tender, after the Captain of Ports indicated that suggestions had been received from bidders. He called for the objections and recommendations to be made public, along with written confirmation of the reasons for withdrawing the tender.

“If suggestions have indeed come from bidders, the Captain of Ports should put them in the public domain and tell us what those suggestions were that led to the withdrawal of the tender,” he said.

The councillor also drew attention to the reclaimed land near the Art Park, which he said was originally intended for sports under Goa’s first chief minister, Bhausaheb Bandodkar. He warned that increasing commercialisation threatened the few remaining green spaces in Panaji, recalling an earlier proposal to concretise the park that was opposed by popular civic activist Patricia Pinto.

“Our big fear going forward is that, as this entire area is gradually commercialised, we will begin to lose these urban lungs,” he said, urging residents to join efforts to protect the capital’s public spaces.

Sukhija thanked the late Dr Joe D’Souza, Aam Aadmi Party Goa president Valmiki Naik and social campaigners Chryselle Dias, Dr Luis Dias, Aslam Punjabi, Lucas and Amita Kanekar, among various others, for their role in raising objections to the request for proposal for the tender and creating awareness about the issue. He also acknowledged Revenue Minister Atanasio alias Babush Monserrate for writing to the government on the issue and said the chief minister may also have played a role in the withdrawal.

Sukhija also said the withdrawal of the tender provided an opportunity to examine the future of the riverfront more broadly and called for greater public scrutiny of decisions affecting access to the Mandovi.