Panaji, June 29 Goa's Ports Minister Michael Lobo on Tuesday urged Ricardo D'Souza, the co-owner of popular nightclub Club Tito's, to disclose the names of the persons from the government departments who had harassed him, a day after the nightclub owner announced sale of all businesses in the coastal state citing harassment by politic, bureaucrats and others.
"If anybody has harassed him, he should tell me the names. We will take action if anybody from our departments has harassed him," Lobo told reporters.
Lobo is also an MLA elected from the Calangute Assembly constituency, where the nightclub is located. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has denied to comment on the issue.
On Monday, D'Souza had announced in a Facebook post the sale of Club Tito's and all other businesses in Goa, much to the shock of the patrons of the club which was first started in 1971.
In his Facebook post, the club owner had said that he was harassed by "the police, PDA (Planning and Development Authority), CRZ (Coastal Regulation Zone), NGOs, panchayats and sarpanchas, Block Development Officers (BDO), and Deputy Collectors".
Lobo on Tuesday said that he had spoken to D'Souza and said that the latter had confirmed that he had received an advance payment for the sale of his club and other businesses, but a formal sale deal has not been executed yet.
"He is my dear friend. When I spoke to him, he said an advance has been received, but a sale deed has not been executed yet. He had told me that he was (thinking of) selling the premises for the last two years. I am the only person who told him not to sell it. I had told him to sell a small percentage, say 30 to 40 per cent, and keep the larger stake with him," Lobo added.
Reacting to the development, state BJP President Sadanand Shet Tanavade said that it is sad that a local businessman has to shut shop on account of harassment, but he refused to comment further until he speaks to D'Souza personally.
"Until I speak to him, it is not right of me to comment on this. I have never gone there (Club Tito's), but I know him by name and as a good person. No one should shut down a business due to harassment. This should not happen," Tanavde said.
D'Souza's post announcing the sale of the club went viral on Monday, attracting comments from a cross section of society.
"Shocking, shouldn't have happened as Tito's was one of GOA's own," said Ernst Dias, vice president of Kuoni Travel India, a leading tour company.
"You guys put Goa on the global party map and established Goa as a party destination. A lot of other businesses benefited as a consequence. It's sad to see one by one, the real Goans moving out of Goa because of other Goans," said musician Varun Carvalho.
D'Souza's comments citing harassment of businessmen in Goa, especially by the authorities, aren't the first of its kind.
In 2019, soon after Chief Minister Pramod Sawant assumed office, a leading Goan mining magnate, Audhut Timblo, had claimed that "ease of doing business" had plummeted to zero in Goa, stating that successive governments had done little to create an environment conducive for business.
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