Goa govt to consider shifting offshore casinos to Aguada Bay

Newly appointed Goa Ports and Waste Management Ministe🧜r Michael Lobo told the vidhan sabha that the state government is not averse to shifting offshore casinos, currently housed in the River Mandovi near Panaji to the Aguada Bay.

Lobo was replying to a and former Chief Minister Pratapsingh Ranඣe to 😼the demand of grant for ports for government failure to remove the offshore casinos out of the river.

Rane was supported by BJP MLA from Panaji, Atanasio ‘Babush’ Monserrate, NCP MLA Churchill Alemao, Congress MLA Aleix✨o Reginaldo Lourenco and Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat, all of whom demanded 𓂃to know the plan and timelines on removal of offshore casinos from their existing location.

, Lobo reportedly said,“The idea of shifting the casino vessel has been mooted by the Panjim MLAꩲ and I assure to study the matter and will also take him for a joint survey of th𒉰e place.”

He added that while heꦰ is not averse to the idea of shifting casinos, the sole intention is that casino passengers sh💛ould not be affected.

Monserrate on the other hand alleged that the state bureaucracy is patronising casinos and that the casino lobby seems to have privatised the jetties owned by the Captain of Ports and Fisheries Department to transport their visi🐼tors to the casino vessels in feeder boats.

Chief Minister Pramodꦗ Sawant has however maintained that he is studying the draft of a new casino policy mooted by his predecessor Manohar Parrikar that would potentially shift the offshore casinos to a designated entertainment zone on land and pave way for the appointment of a Gaming Commissioner to regulate the casino industry.

In reply to legislative queries in the past couple of weeks, Sawant merely s⛦tated that the matt𒁏er is under examination and n🌊ot given any timelines on deciding a definitive policy that will 🧔decide the future of offshore casinos in the state,