After 2 turf battle wins, Santa Cruz eyes Cujira complex

Panaji: After a recent victory over two sports venues, Santa Cruz is now eyeing the jurisdiction of the Cujira integrated school complex at Bambolim. “The integrated school complex at Cujira is also in the jurisdiction of Santa Cruz, just as the two stadiums were,” said panch Inacio Dominic Pereira.
“The revenue generated from these properties must rightfully come to the Santa Cruz panchayat. We have already initiated conversations with the director of education to address this issue, seeking to update the official address to reflect Santa Cruz as the rightful governing authority,” he said.
This move follows a successful turf battle involving the jurisdiction of two important sports venues — the Athletics Stadium at Cujira, which was named under the St Andre constituency, and the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium located at Goa University, which was named under the Taleigao constituency. The office of the mamlatdar for the Tiswadi taluka recently confirmed jurisdictional details for both sports venues as Santa Cruz after receiving formal requests from the Sports Authority of Goa (SAG).
“The file to recognise the two stadiums as coming under Santa Cruz is with govt. The official handover to the panchayat is pending. If required, we will meet sports minister Govind Gaude in this regard,” Pereira said.
Even though it has been a decade since the inauguration of the two stadiums, efforts will be made to recover lost revenue. “If it is possible to recover the previously lost arrears, we will write to govt on this,” Pereira said.
“The people who inaugurated the stadiums and the complex should have enlightened govt about the correct address. If you have love for the village, you think about all these things. I don’t know why the previous MLAs and sarpanchs ignored this matter. I don’t know why the current MLA continues to ignore this matter,” he added.