Kamat sold out to real estate lobby: Goa church
December 1st, 2011 - 7:51 pm ICT by IANSPanaji, Dec 1 (IANS) The Goa church Thursday rejected a much touted futuristic land use plan formulated by the state government and accused Chief Minister Digambar Kamat of selling out to the real estate lobby.
Speaking at a press conference here, convenor of the Council for Social Justice and Peace (CSJP) Father Maverick Fernandes said the church in Goa, which represents 26 percent of the state’s population, had rejected the Regional Plan (RP) 2021 and had given Kamat a Dec 15 deadline to take corrective steps.
“The citizens are outraged because the whole exercise has been distorted and as it stands today, it is a threat to ecology and the existence of the Goan people and further compounded with vague, irrational and contradictory planning policies,” said Fernandes, whose CSJP is the social arm of the influential Roman Catholic Church in Goa.
Fernandes said the dissent of the Goa church to Kamat’s RP 2021 would percolate down to its flock spread all across Goa.
Kamat, as chief minister, heads the State Level Committee (SLC) which has drawn up the much touted land use policy, which Fernandes said has clandestinely opened the door for wholesale ravaging of Goa by the real estate lobby.
The RP 2021 was fully notified by the government last month and has faced stiff resistance from civil society over the last four years, during which it was being put in place.
- Goa Church criticises Kamat's land use policy - Dec 15, 2011
- NCP: Goa Congress cozying up to real estate lobby - Feb 23, 2012
- 'Goa project by 2G scam accused dubiously cleared' - Oct 27, 2011
- Rights group accuses Kamat, Congress MLA of land scam - Feb 09, 2011
- Criminal complainant against Kamat over Goa land policy - Jan 21, 2011
- Goa government urged to rectify land use plan - Mar 15, 2012
- Roadmap aside, urgent issues await Sonia in Goa - Dec 16, 2011
- Church, NGOs to oppose Goa's eco-tourism zone plans - Dec 28, 2010
- 'Plans to convert Goa into Hong Kong an insult' - Feb 28, 2012
- All new realty permissions in Goa on hold: Official - Apr 09, 2012
- Mining eating into Goa forests: Church - Jun 05, 2011
- Mad rush for investment homes ruining Goa, say activists - Dec 23, 2010
- Goa Church threatens boycott of village panchayat polls - May 03, 2012
- Goa mulls tax on unoccupied second flats, homes - Nov 10, 2011
- BJP's conduct of panchayat polls undemocratic: Goa church - Apr 23, 2012
Tags: chief minister, citizens, corrective steps, dissent, ecology, existence, fernandes, flock, goa, justice and peace, maverick, panaji, regional plan, roman catholic church, slc, social arm, social justice, state government, stiff resistance, wholesale