Panaji: Residents of Panaji on Tuesday demanded cancellation of the Captain of Ports (CoP) tender to hand over a private operator for 30 years, extendable by another 10 years, alleging the arrangement amounts to privatisation.The residents gathered at Azad Maidan to protest the proposed arrangement, for which tenders have already been issued. Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) corporator Jack Sukhija demanded an immediate stay on the tender and questioned the need to give a private operator control of the jetty for up to four decades.“If it is not equivalent to privatisation, what is it? Most of us won’t even exist after 40 years,” Sukhija said.He questioned the rationale behind handing over to a private operator for such a long period and said three other jetties — at Kala Academy, Campal and Bhagwan Mahavir Garden — were also covered by tenders proposing to hand them over to a private operator for maintenance.Sukhija also questioned the financial arrangement, alleging that much of the expenditure would continue to be borne by govt while the private operator’s liability for repairs would be limited to Rs 5 lakh.
