Citizens’ Research Collective on SEZ

Panaji, November 16, 2007: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), a partner in the Congress-led coalition Government, on Friday fired a salvo demanding that all the on-going works associated with all the seven approved Special Economic Zones (SEZs) should be stopped ahead of the review of the projects as announced by the Chief Minister.

NCP Goa unit president Wilfred de Souza told presspersons that while he welcomed the decision of the State Cabinet on Thursday to appoint a sub-committee of the Cabinet to study the SEZ issue, which snowballed into a major controversy, he was unhappy that the investing companies were allowed to carry on work at their sites when the legality of the land conversion was in doubt following scrapping of the controversial Goa Regional Plan 2011 six months ago.

Quoting State Government documents, Mr. de Souza, himself a former Chief Minister, said there were 18 applications before the State Government for SEZs which claim to create 9 lakh jobs. This, he said, was simply ridiculous as Goa’s population was 14 lakh and close to one lakh unemployed only were on live registers of the State Employment Exchange.

“Where is the question of study? The Chief Minister must bring to halt all the work going on and then talk of studying the issue,” he said. Mr. de Souza said: “There are big States where SEZs can come up. Goa is not one of them.”

Describing the SEZs as “only property deals”, the NCP leader promised to take up the issue with his party high command. Refusing to be bogged down by the growing pressure, Chief Minister Digambar Kamat had said that although the Government would not allow any more SEZs, he would need time to examine and study all aspects of the SEZs already approved and notified before any decision was taken over their fate.

Source: The Hindu