Protests erupt in Goa as MLA’s 100-day deadline to remove casinos ends

Panaji MLA Atanasio Monserrate had promised to remove the casino vessels that lie anchored in the River Mandovi along Goa’s capital city of Panaji within 100 days if he was voted to power.

Having won the by-election necessitated by the death of former chief minister Manohar Parrikar, Monserrate insisted he was serious about his promise. Today, August 30, is the 99th day since the results were declared, but unsurprisingly, the casino boats have stayed where there were.

Valmiki Naik, who led the protest against the casinos on Friday evening accused the Panaji MLA of never being serious about his assurance and demanded the removal of casinos from Goa altogether.

“Babush Monserrate’s promise for 100 days was a joke. Even if he were to fulfill it, it would not make a difference. When you want to clean the house, you do not take the garbage from one room to the next. We want them out of Goa, not shifted from the river,” Naik said.

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“As far as the casinos are concerned, I am out to remove them from Panjim. I stand by my promises. My promises are meant to be kept not to be broken,” Monserrate said when reminded about his promise.

Monserrate, who was elected on a Congress ticket, but joined the BJP with nine other Congress legislators said that just because he switched sides, his stance did not change.

“I had said 100 days during the elections so now that I am in the government let us see how it can be done. My stand on the casino vessels does not change even though I am entering the BJP,” Monserrate said.

During his brief stint with the Congress, Monserrate oversaw a demolition drive on footpath encroachments by the casinos, but earned himself a case of molestation during a brief scuffle that happened during the drive.

Monserrate claimed that he was in touch with minister Michael Lobo who represents the tourism-centric Calangute constituency to have them shifted there.

Lobo said that feasibility options for alternative sites were being examined.

“I will take the Panaji MLA in a feeder boat to identify and then especially our technical people of the Captain of Ports Department to identify the casino vehicles. If it is feasible only then it will be shifted. [For now] there is no other site where the casinos can be shifted, we are trying to identify other places,” Lobo said.

The site referred to by Lobo is the Aguada bay (below the Aguada fort), that was found unfeasible for shifting the casinos owing to the presence of waves. The boats can tolerate waves, but would prefer still water.

The 20 year old industry isn’t just a big draw for thousands for tourists but contributes more than ₹400-crore to the state coffers in licence fees and around ₹90 crore per year as State GST, a figure that is similar to that contributed by the mining industry.

From one offshore vessel which began operations in the year 1999, the state today has six gaming vessels that all float within a one kilometre stretch of the River Mandovi.

Industry insiders reveal that each venue makes a turnover of around ₹120-crore per year and sees 600-800 people per vessel, especially on weekends. There are six off-shore casinos and around 12 casinos on land located in five star hotels.

Both the Congress and the BJP have protested against and promised to ‘remove’ the casinos when they were in the opposition but reneged when in power.

It is broadly understood that the government seeks to set up the designated ‘gaming zone’ in the vicinity of the upcoming Goa International Airport at Goa’s northern corner in Mopa, the absence of a formal policy has meant that there is nothing ‘on record’ to that effect.

Asked about the fate of the employees who have jobs in casinos, Valmiki said that the government should rehabilitate them and in the interim provide a safety net so that they do not suffer.