SHILLONG, SEPT 16: Former KSU general secretary Donald V Thabah on Wednesday said the meeting called by the Commissioner & Secretary in-charge Tourism to discuss the facilitation centre at Umling, Ri Bhoi, was not fruitful as only officials from the tourism department were present.
“We were invited to discuss setting up of facilitation centre in Umling which is the entry point. However, only officers from the tourism department were present,” Thabah said.
He said the tourism department briefed them on the plan, including an increase in the earmarked area following KSU’s earlier objection.
“Earlier KSU had objected that the area earmarked for the facilitation centre was very less and most of the area was occupied by the food court. We raised the objection and the tourism department informed us that earlier it was 1000 sq ft, now it will be 4000 sq ft,” Thabah said.
However, Thabah said KSU cannot take a final call without consulting its jailed leaders.
“We cannot give assurance that we are satisfied with what the tourism department is planning since our leaders are in jail. We have to discuss with them first, whether 4000 is enough or we require more,” he said.
He said the facilitation centre must cater to all categories of entrants, not just tourists.
“People entering the state are not only tourists, they are labourers, students, government officials and many others who will come for other business purposes,” he said.
Thabah said only four rooms have been allotted so far – two for tourism, one for infiltration and one for home department – which is insufficient and will lead to long queues.
“We feel there should be counters dedicated to labour, health, education and other departments also. Yes, they can apply online, but there are some who cannot. Since only the tourism department called us, they said they cannot speak on behalf of other departments,” he said.
“This meeting was not fruitful, we are not satisfied because only officials from tourism were there,” he added.
On Rattachera, Thabah said the department informed that land acquisition is 50% complete but failed to clarify the actual area meant for the facilitation centre and whether it would be converted into an entry-exit point.
Thabah said the government should hold a comprehensive meeting involving all departments to discuss implementation of MRSSA.
“If the government engages us for talks, we want to talk about MRSSA. Today we talked with tourism department and tomorrow they will talk with labour department. We feel all officials from all departments should be there,” he said.
“When we come for the meeting, our objective was discussion on implementation of the principal Act – MRSSA facilitation centre. The government should initiate a better way to engage us on facilitation centres,” he said.
