The Chief Minister agreed to waive the barge tax for the next quarterDelegations from the Goa Barge Owners Association (GBOA) and the Shipyards Association of Goa met Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar recently and submitted a memorandum to him, in the backdrop of the Union Government decision to suspend environmental clearances of 93 mines.
The State Government has suspended mining activity in the State in view of the Shah Commission report coming down heavily against illegal mining in Goa.
GBOA President Atul Jadhav said suspension of mining activities by the State Government will have serious implications on the barge industry as many barge owners have taken loans. Barge owners claim their financial exposure of loans is Rs. 500 crores of which a sum of Rs. 150 crores is owed to Goan cooperative banks. The industry employs about 6,000 persons directly as barge crew and 30,000 people indirectly in ancillaries like workshops and jetties.
The season for barges is from Sept. 16 to May 31. The barges made around 50 trips last season, down from 123 trips the previous season due to the fall in exports from 54.5 million tonnes to 42 million tonnes.
GBOA has appealed to the Government to advise EDC to take over all existing loans of barge owners and instruct EDC and other Goan cooperative banks to lower interest rates of the loans.
They also sought waiving of payment of all taxes such as barge tax and port dues payable to the State Government. The barge owners also demanded that the Government grant an operational subsidy to all the barge owners to enable them to pay wages to their crew.
According to Mr. William D’ Costa, Honorary Secretary, GBOA, the Chief Minister was sympathetic to the demands of the association and agreed to waive the barge tax for the next quarter. The CM told the barge owners that he would permit transportation of ore that has already been mined. The Director of Mines will survey the already-mined ore.
He told the delegation that the situation would be reviewed and that he was confident that a solution on the environmental clearances will be found at the earliest.
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