‘10 five-star hotels, 3,000 homestays in the pipeline’
Shillong, April 16: Even as the Green Tech Foundation (GTF) chairman continued his indefinite hunger strike Lumpongdeng island issue, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Thursday said the government is ready to issue a white paper on the matter.
The Chief Minister reiterated that no construction is planned on Lumpongdeng island and appealed to the GTF chairman to end his hunger strike.
The GTF has been demanding for total scrapping of the five-star Taj Umiam Resort & Spa project.
Asked if the government would clarify the issue through a white paper, Sangma said, “Sure no problem, we will give that.”
On the protester’s health, he said medical teams are monitoring the situation.
“We have asked the medical department to provide some support. We have been monitoring since last evening and I am told some medical attention has been given,” he said.
However, he said, the protesters have refused to go to the hospital after repeated requests from the government.
“There is no construction there (Lumpongdeng). The construction is going to take place where the Orchid hotel is right now,” he said.
“The main issue, which is the construction on Lumpongdeng island, has been amply clarified and everybody is quite satisfied with that aspect. There is no reason for them to continue this (hunger strike) as their concerns were already addressed,” he stated.
Expressing concern about the protesters’ health, he said, “We have appealed to them as we are concerned about their health… since the issue has been resolved, there is no need to continue with the fasting.”
On the tourism push, Sangma said the Taj group is bringing investments of over Rs 300 crore.
“It is going to be one of the best resorts, if not in the country but the best in the eastern region,” he said.
Stating that the five-star hotel is part of a broader strategy, he said, “10 five-star hotels are in the pipeline… 3,000 homestays are being also constructed which will help more than 3000 families.”
“One has to look at tourism holistically from the overall strategy and you cannot see tourism from one particular activity because that will give you only a narrow view of things,” he asserted.
“We have to be broad minded, we have to think of investments and we have to think of job creation and these are ways to create the jobs,” he added.
