PANAJI: The chairman of Salgaocar Mining Industries Pvt Ltd, Mr Anil Salgaocar on Tuesday said that he is ready to take the responsibility of removing River Princess, the ill-fated bulk carrier grounded off Candolim beach for last decade, but the government should hand over the ownership of the vessel to his company.

Speaking to ‘The Navhind Times’, Mr Salgaocar said that though the government lost no time in taking possession of the stranded vessel belonging to his company, there has been unpardonable delay on the part of the government to remove the same.

"And now, it is impossible to re-float River Princess and tow it away," he said, pointing out that presently, there is only scrap in the name of the vessel, which stands along the Candolim coast.

Speaking further, Mr Salgaocar said that the inner parts of the River Princess were stripped of all saleable material and massive holes are now appearing in its hull, thus make re-floating impossible. The ship is now buried seven mts deep in sand.

Mr Salgaocar, also a member of the state legislative assembly, alleged that there is massive fixing in the recent tendering process, undertaken for removal of River Princess. "This fixing is more serious and deep rooted than the recent fixing related to betting scam allegations against the Pakistani cricketers," he charged, stating that if he had not raised hue and cry against this tendering process, the Rs 125-crore aid sought from the Centre for removal of River Princess, would have been certainly squandered.

Earlier this month, the SMIPL, through several advertisements published in local dailies had made severe allegations against the state government stating that it is involved in a scam in the tendering process. The company had also stated that it is ready to remove the stranded ship by bearing the entire cost of the removal without taking any money from the government.

"By applying ultra vires and unconstitutional ‘The Goa Tourist Places Protection Act, 2001’, government had confiscated River Princess for not removing by re-floating and towing away within a period of 90 days," one of these advertisements had said, pointing out, "Whereas, for the past seven years, from the date of confiscation, the government has miserably failed to remove the vessel by re-floating and towing away even after giving contracts to Crosschem and to Jaisu Shipping."

The advertisement further said, "Today, River Princess is a wreck and a state fathered disaster and the government does not have any more moral right, leave alone legal to continue with the possession of the vessel." It added, "Please return the vessel gracefully to the owners and make good use of Rs 125 crore in providing badly needed financial help and relief to aam aadmi of Canacona affected by genuine natural disaster."

Referring to the meeting of the Chief Minister, Mr Digambar Kamat and the deputy chairperson of the State Planning Board, Dr Wilfred de Sousa with the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, earlier this year, wherein the Chief Minister had requested financial assistance of Rs 125 crore from the Centre for removal of the stranded vessel, Mr Salgaocar said that the entire scenario smells of corruption in high place.

"The government should return the illegally confiscated vessel to my company and I will remove it free of cost," he reiterated.

Incidentally, a 2008 report by the National Institute of Oceanography had observed that over 1.1 km of the Dando-Sinquerim coast had eroded because the River Princess by blocking the natural sedimentation.

"The beach has been reduced by 14 mts between 2005 and 2006," the report had added.