Salgaocars no-show at River Princess disposal meeting

MLA and one-time owner of the m v River Princess Anil Salgaocar and his son were both missing in action at the Disaster Management Meeting called to decide who gets the Princess. Both had spoken earnestly about how they are willing to "tow" away the wreck of the Princess absolutely free of cost to the public exchequer. They said they had been willing to do it from the very beginning but for reasons best known to the Government of Goa and its Tourism Department Salgaocar were not allowed to take the ship away.

And everyone looked accusingly at the Government. But MLA Agnelo Fernandes of Calangute said, Salgaocar was not coming clear about the free of cost angle. Once the government cravenly lobbed the ball into the High Court's court all interested parties were directed to sit with the Disaster Management Committee for a meeting.

The Salgaocar duo were conspicuous by their absence, only Madgavkar Salvage and Titan Salvage attended the meeting. This is the final stage for the allotment of the tender to remove the broken Princess. The government wants ownership of the wreck since it is understood that the scrap value could come to a neat Rs 30 crore.

Tourism Director Swapnil Naik said that all three parties were given an 8-point questionnaire to answer. Salgaocar could have attended the meeting. Once hears the chances of  Salgaocar getting to remove the ship are very dim.

Or maybe the Salgaocars knew that the Chief Minister, Digambar Kamat, who is also the chairman of the SDMA, the Chief Secretary, Sanjay Kumar Shrivastava and Calangute MLA, Agnelo Fernandes, could not be present for the meeting. Another meeting will be held on Saturday afternoon to take a decision on the tender for removal of the once and for all.