Benaulim MLA is all about bark and no bite -- By Nisser Dias

Benaulim MLA Venzy Viegas recently released a video on social media wherein he is in conversation with the Airport Director at Dabolim, offering to provide wheelchairs for use by the needy fliers from the MLA’s fund. All this publicity stunt evolves from an incident, wherein a foreign tourist was made to pay Rs. 4000 for a wheelchair by some errant airport employees. Thank God, that he did not ask the tourist to eat a lobster costing Rs. 8000 and worse still did not offer to pay for it.

Viegas, in his hunger to be in the public eye or rather for cheap publicity, is making a fool of himself and the constituents, especially those who cast their precious franchise in his favour. The other voters who resisted voting for him are having the last laugh, for electing a bigger nerd than we previously had. To charge Rs. 4000 is definitely wrong, it is extortion, but to promise funds allotted to the development of Benaulim is complete hogwash. But what can we expect from a person who is a publicity hawk and on a fast track to nowhere.

Even after the Airport Director informed him that the wheelchairs are provided by the airlines, Benaulim MLA insisted on diverting the funds meant for his constituency. Benaulim constituents would have been further embarrassed had the Airport Director taken up Venzy Viegas on his offer, as the government or the Finance department would have never sanctioned the funds for the purpose. Instead of making unrealistic comments to be on social media, Viegas should use the funds for the betterment of his constituency by tarring roads, developing open and recreational spaces etc.

Benaulim legislator is all about bark and no bite, He simply makes noises, addresses press conferences, does not miss an opportunity to give sound bytes to the waiting media to be in the public eye but in reality, no work is seen done. His bark has become so hollow that even the government and its officials do not take him seriously. Benaulim constituents should hang their head in shame simply because despite the MLA boasting of having two offices of his own in the constituency, he had to park his car Illegally on the road to dial up the Airport Director.

This is indication that the social-media-MLA of Benaulim constituency was doing it to for the cameras and had no intention of rectifying the wrong. In fact, the Traffic police should book Venzy Viegas for disrupting the flow of traffic by parking his car on a public road and that too not even beyond the shoulders. If he is ignorant, he should read the traffic rules and regulations to understand that only emergency vehicles are permitted to park on the road to attend and save lives. Very soon it is going to be a year since Benaulim constituents gave a mandate to Venzy Viegas as a legislator. In that time, he has made them look like fools.

He has conducted numerous inspections with no results. We have not seen any developments. People continue to suffer from power and water woes. Government does not even seem to give a damn about his hollowing, but Benaulim MLA continues to entertain his constituents with ridiculous, impractical and nonsensical videos on social media.