Ahead of tourist season, UK envoy surveys Goa’s security

  • | Friday | 21st July, 2017

I went to see the chief minister to talk about the security arrangements and that was something I wanted to do. Again very good positive response from the chief minister," Wells said. Hundreds of British nationals who bought properties in Goa face a prolonged legal battle to hold on to them. "I had a meeting with the chief minister. Panaji: The tourist season may be a couple of months away, but the British are leaving nothing to chance.

Panaji: The tourist season may be a couple of months away, but the British are leaving nothing to chance. With the murder of Irishwoman Danielle McLaughlin still fresh in their mind, British acting deputy high commissioner Colin Wells met chief minister Manohar Parrikar here on Thursday to discuss and review the security arrangements for tourists from their country."I had a meeting with the chief minister. I went to see the chief minister to talk about the security arrangements and that was something I wanted to do. I wanted to touch base with the chief minister here about security arrangements being in place for British citizens and to talk about cooperation about security," Wells said.He said they spoke about the "difficult case of Danielle McLaughlin. It shocked all of us in Mumbai. The good news is that the court case is coming up very soon."Wells expressed his satisfaction with the information provided by Parrikar. "Very important here in Goa are the relationships we have with security agencies, for very obvious reasons. Goa is a very small state in the context of India , but it is a very important state for the UK because of the large number of British nationals who come here," he said.Besides McLauglin, several other British nationals have met tragic deaths in Goa, raising dark questions over the safety of visitors in the tourist-dependent state. While 15-year-old Scarlett Keeling was murdered, the cause of death of Denyse Sweeney, Martin Neighbour, James Durkin and others remain under question.Wells also discussed the issue of the property bought by British citizens being repossessed or taken over by locals. Hundreds of British nationals who bought properties in Goa face a prolonged legal battle to hold on to them."There are outstanding property disputes and in particular the legacy cases and there is more work to go, but we think we are coming to a good place on this. Again very good positive response from the chief minister," Wells said.

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