Panaji: At a council meeting of the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) on Wednesday, mayor Rohit Monserrate urged corporators to support revenue minister Atanasio ‘Babush’ Monserrate’s objection to the privatisation of the captain of ports (CoP) jetty.“We support the revenue minister when it comes to saying that we don’t want the CoP jetty privatised or handed to anybody for operations,” the mayor said. He added that the CCP has been kept in the dark about govt’s plans for Junta House and the floating jetties proposed for the state capital.Opposition corporators also backed the mayor. Corporator Jack Sukhija said the issue extends beyond the terminal building. “The CoP building is only one part. We oppose privatising 10 jetties. Three new jetties are coming up at Campal itself, and they want to complete this entire project in three months. We have asked for this project to be kept on hold. The mayor said the revenue minister has backed us on this,” he said.Separately, the mayor objected to what he called a fresh encroachment on a pedestrian footpath and public parking area along the Mandovi riverfront near the ferry wharf. He has issued a notice to the establishment directing it to dismantle the structure.In a letter to ports minister Digambar Kamat, Babush strongly opposed state govt’s proposal to privatise and commercialise the newly built CoP terminal building and jetty in Panaji. He cited concerns about traffic, parking, pedestrian safety, emergency access, and continued public access to the waterfront.Citizens have also raised concerns that commercialisation could draw more tourists and increase the number of taxis, buses, and other vehicles, worsening congestion in an area already constrained by limited road capacity and parking. Corporator Kabir Makhija said exhibitions cannot be held at Kala Academy or the football ground because they create congestion and obstruct ambulance movement.
