Union government has failed to locate missing fishermen: Lobo

Mangaluru: “It is months since the fishermen went missing. While the state government made several efforts to trace the fishermen, the union government failed to do so and only gave fake assurances of tracing the fishermen,” said former MLA J R Lobo on Friday, slamming the union government on its failure to locate the missing fishermen.

“Congress party has always been with common people and much focused on development. We have proved that by delivering promises made in the manifesto. When Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister, the country’s economic condition was in a good position. But in the last five years, the economic condition of the country has worsened, and unemployment has increased. The union government’s promises remain unfulfilled,” he pointed.

Giving details on other development Mr Lobo said, “Trade between Lakshadweep and Mangaluru needs to be developed. A delegation met in Lakshadweep to improve trade between Mangaluru and the union territory. They have agreed to invest Rs 250 crore for the development of old port. Development of connecting roads between Old Port and NMPT will be the big step towards economic development,” he said.

“Dakshina Kannada is an educational hub which is way forward in engineering and technology. There is scope for making the city into an IT industry too. We have prepared a good manifesto focused on economic development and we will fulfill all the promises. Hence, we have fielded a capable and young candidate in the constituency. We are confident that people are with Congress,” he claimed.

“NMPT has not made much progress. BJP MPs are in power from the last 28 years in the district. While BJP has mentioned about developing Mangaluru airport in their manifesto, they have privatised the airport and given it to Adani. It is hard to understand what kind of development will take place this way. BJP had announced about Smart City long back. So far, not a single change can be seen in Mangaluru under Smart City project,” he said.

Responding to a question on his losing the last Assembly election Mr Lobo said, “It is our duty to develop a city. Unfortunately, people became the victims of false information and now they are regretting. This time around, they will not repeat the same mistake and will support Congress,” he claimed.