panaji director of transport arun desai refuted the charge made by the centre for responsible tourism regarding the lusofonia games that goan taxi drivers were ignored saying that the request for proposal rfp floated was an open etender for the supply of 400 cars and 100 buses there was a special provision made in the tender document in which any local vendor who could supply even 25 cars or 10 buses could participate in the tender process desai said in a statement adding that this tender was floated twice in august 2013 and again in november 2013 and advertised locally i also made an announcement at a lusofonia games press conference held some time ago requesting local operators to please come forward and apply for the tenders our objective was to reach out to local vendors and every effort was made to invite bids from local vendors desai stated he said most local operators were reluctant to tie up with the selected vendor as most are locally contracted to resorts and hotels in goa on an ongoing basis or they were unable to commit to the requirement of being on call roundtheclock during the project period the present fleet of 380 cars and 75 buses he said does include over 25 vehicles hired locally savio messias vicepresident travel and tourism association of goa ttag said the government had invited tenders for managing transport for the lusofonia games the taxi and vehicle vendors he said should have grabbed the business opportunity that lay ahead rather than sit and wait for the business to come knocking on their door director of the centre for responsible tourism fr maverick fernandes and the centre for responsible tourism could have helped the vendors unite and bid for the contract he felt