Puducherry: AIADMK MLA Vaiyapuri Manikandan on Monday wrote a letter to Puducherry Governor Kiran Bedi, seeking a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the recent visit of Chief Minister V Narayanasamy, Revenue Minister
MOHF Shahjahan and two MLAs, R Siva and A Johnkumar, to Singapore.
In a letter to Bedi, Manikandan accused casino giants in Singapore of influencing the delegation led by the Chief Minister to open casinos in the Union Territory.
“People believe that they have received huge amounts of money as bribe from casino owners in Singapore,” he alleged.
Stating that he has been opposing these immoral activities of the government, AIADMK leader said: “I have applied for getting information regarding the recent visit of Chief Minister Narayanasamy, Minister Thiru MOHF Shahjahan and two MLAs Thiru R Siva and Thiru A Johnkumar to Singapore to know whether their visit was official. If not why did they met investors to bring casinos and lottery to Puducherry.”
Citing an RTI application filed by him in this regard, the legislator said, “Puducherry Chief Secretariat is not aware of any information regarding the trip of the above members.”
“In the wake of suppressing of information by the government, I seek your intervention and issue orders to probe the case by CBI to reveal the conspiracy involved in the tour undertaken by the above members,” he said.
He alleged that the Chief Minister is more interested in making money rather than promoting tourism in the state.
“The Chief Minister and his colleagues have been trying to fill their pockets by allowing casinos, lottery and so on which cause deterioration of civilisation, culture and even day-to-day law and order. It seems that they don’t have the ambition of tourism promotion in the state but are only thinking about making money,” he said.
Manikandan suggested that the government should focus on bringing in more ‘entertainment shows’ to Puducherry to engage tourists for a longer stay.
“The demand gap supply in hotel rooms is now reduced and what Puducherry is really missing is ‘entertainment shows’ like interactive museum, water thrill rides, musical fountain, 5d and 7d animation theatres, dinosaur and science park, toy museum, snow park, interactive game zone, kids zone, aqua resort and restaurant, underwater world, artificial waterfall, adventure park and sculpture park. Only these would engage visiting tourists for a weeklong stay,” he said in the letter.
AIADMK leader alleged that the Tourism Department has “not taking any effort” to create world-class infrastructure facilities and tap potential tourism activities.
“Instead they (tourism department) have been constructing substandard buildings and unworthy infrastructure that have become a burden to the exchequer for maintenance and operation. The only thing behind it is to encourage locals to make money,” he said.