Goa tourism dept says new jetty policy aimed at tourism, not coal movement

PANAJI, (PTI): The new jetty policy of Goa seeks to give a boost to tourism and is not aimed at facilitating movement of coal as alleged by some sections of people, the state tourism department said on Thursday.

It said the policy was being ”wrongly interpreted” and many persons were giving ”misleading statements” on it, a release from the department issued during the day said.

”The policy is only applicable to vessel operators and jetties being utilized for tourism purposes. It is not applicable to private jetties, coal handling, fishing or casino activities. It is applicable only for passenger cruise vessel operators utilizing the jetty for tourism purposes and not for water sports operators,” the statement informed.

It added the licensing authority of the said jetties is the state’s Captain of Ports and the Jetty Management Committee (JMC) shall not be the owner of any jetty.

”The policy is applicable for regulating tourism activities at three existing jetties, namely Santa Monica Jetty at Panaji, Captain of Ports Jetty at Panaji, Britona Jetty, Betim Jetty and Jetty at Old Goa. There is no proposal to construct additional jetties under this policy,” it added. (PTI)