Panaji: Goa Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte said that the State Police department should be ‘aggressive’ against the illegalities happening in the coastal belt, which is crucial to project an image of Goa as a good tourist destination.
Khaunte said that he has already taken up the issue with chief minister Pramod Sawant to act against the illegalities on the beach belts. He admitted that there are illegalities like prostitution happening in the coastal belt, which needs to be stopped.
The tourism minister was speaking to reporters on Saturday after attending the Annual General Meeting of Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) in Panaji.
Khaunte said that the state government wants to develop Goa as a “good tourist destination.” “And if we want to do it, the bad things should be tackled. There should be good image about the state,” he said adding that the state government has already started putting in place several things.
“But the police department should start getting aggressive on such illegalities and against those people who are involved in it,” he said.
Khaunte said that he has already discussed the matter with the chief minister, who is holding the Home Portfolio.
The minister said that the integrated beach management is one such scheme which will help to curb the illegalities on the beaches.
Referring to the opposition to the App based cab aggregators in the state, Khaunte said that he will be initiating dialogue with the Taxi owners to develop and run their services through a dedicated App, which will be run by Taxi Association.
“Taxi owners should understand that you cant stay away from technology. They should adopt the technology,” he said.
Khaunte said that the tourism industry cannot be allowed to be affected as it is a major revenue contributor to the state coffers. “What happened in Sri Lanks is a lesson for us.. Mining in Goa has stopped. It should not happen in tourism,” he said.
