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This month's Goanet operations sponsored by Mrs. Daisy Faleiro
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Greetings Nigel and to the Goanet Community on India'a Republic Day!
Nigel your views as a student on the Regional Plan and our beloved Goa were
truly inspiring, impressive and you need to be commended for the strong
message that you send not only to all the current bunch of corrupt, inept
and very sad bunch of politicians and MLAs that unfortunately the Goan
people somehow have representing them over the last so mnay years but also
the real estate sharks and so called well-wishers that we see who are trying
to fool Goans bringing with them their Pandora's box of death, destruction,
woes and miseries in the guise of so called "development" with the only
intention to destroy Goa and steal from us Goans.
On this very special day for all Goans and all Indians - January 26th our
Republic Day I hope that all our Goan brothers and sisters back in Goa will
let their voices be heard at the Gram Sabha and that we will all stand up,
speak out and declare in a clear and loud voice thatenough is enough and we
Goans will not take this any more. All Goans who may be away from Goa also
need to speak out and send a strong message that they will support our Goan
bothers and sisters in their struggle to protect our beloved Goa. Goanetters
please speak out for Goa and Goans. The Regional plan needs to be
de-notified on a retro-active basis as of August 10th, 2006.. For those of
us who are far away from our beloved Goa we want our Goan brothers and
sisters to know that we are all firmly behind you in this struggle to
protect and preserve Goa, our Goan values, ethos, culture and our very own
Goan identity.
Goans owe an immense debt to the Save Goa movement launched by it's
inspiring team led by Dr. Oscar Rebello, Mrs. Patricia Pinto, Mr. Sridar
Kamat, Ms. Sabina Martins, Mr. Aires Rodrigues, Mr. Miguel Braganza and
others who so generously and selflessly have given of their time, energy and
money to fight this struggle for all Goans. Their leadership basically has
given us a voice and the courage to stand up and speak out even at grave
risk to their lives from corrupt politicians and their cronies who pay them
big bucks and support them and their nefarious schemes. SAVE GOA is a
campaign organized by concerned individual citizens, Citizen Groups and
NGO's who came together to collectively oppose the Regional Plan 2011 and
ensure its revocation and their example has inspired all Goans. The struggle
to get the Regional Plan de-notified on a retro-active basis as of August
10th, 2006 is still on and we will fight to ensure that we win this
struggle. We will not allow our corrupt politicians and their cronies and
the real estate lobby and others waiting to steal what is rightfully the
legacy of the Goan people, destroy the Goa that we love so dearly and the
Goans. Please make sure that everyone visits the www.savegoa.com website and
pledge your support to the Campaign to save Goa.
I've attached the Resolution from the "Save Goa" website below. The
Following Gram Sabha Resolution is what our Goan brothers and sisters will
be asking for on this Republic Day in Goa.
1. It is resolved by the Gram Sabha of _________ Village Panchayat to
place on record the views of the people of _________ village that the
Regional Plan 2011 should be denotified and scrapped from retrospective
effect i.e. from 10th August, 2006 , the date that it was notified.
2. The Village Panchayats and Municipalities should be consulted while
preparing the new Regional Plan.
3. This Gram Sabha reiterates that it must be consulted on the
Regional Plan as required under the 73rd Constitutional Amendment.
4. Further the Gram Sabha in its collective wisdom is of the view that
the Regional Plan must ensure the safety and preservation of the village
common property such as forests and water bodies, agricultural and
horticultural lands, etc. which are vital for the social, cultural and
economic sustainability of the village and its people.
5. It is resolved to demand that the new Regional Plan be prepared
through a new planning process which is participatory, transparent,
accountable and in consonance with healthy planning norms with the common
goan as the focus of development.
6. This Gram Sabha also resolves on this auspicious occasion of the
Republic Day that the 73rd amendment of the Constitution be implemented in
letter and spirit by the Government of Goa through its Directorate of
Panchayat, BDOs and Village Panchayat Secretaries.
7. This Gram Sabha also resolves that this Resolution be forwarded to
the Chief Minister of Goa , Chief Secretary of Goa , Chief Town Planner,
Director of Panchayats and Block Development Officer (BDO) of the taluka.
In witness thereof we have affixed our signatures on the Attendance Register
of this meeting at the Village Panchayat.
For those of us who may not be in Goa or able to attend the meetings. please
ensure that you let your voice be heard and that your representatives at
whatever level get the message loud and clear that the Regional Plan needs
to be de-notified effective August 10, 2006. We will have to remain vigilant
always and this is just the beginning of the long march to protect Goa.
Eternal vigilance is what is required and all Goans need to speak out and
have their voices heard.
I was shocked to see that the Government wants to continue in it's crooked
path by now wanting to pass a Bill in the Winter Assembly to take over more
of our Communidade lands by increasing the amount of land that they can grab
to 2 lakhs square metres in the name of so called non-polluting industries.
Clearly one is amazed by the length to which they go and think they can
hoodwink the Goan people. Do they think we are stupid???Goans need to be
vigilant and the movement to save Goa should be taken to every town and
village, every school and college and to every nook and corner. We need to
protect our Goa and our beaches, our hills, our rivers, our ponds, our
kazaan lands, our fields and the very air that we breathe and the water we
drink. We need to protect our beloved Goa that our fore-fathers and
generations of Goans have worked so hard to make it what it is. We need to
protect our Goan way of life and let those who are trying to destroy Goa for
personal greed and avarice know that we will stand up to protect what
rightfully is ours and in the words of the famous song by Martin Luther King
we truly shall overcome one day.
The following are some of the Organisations that have pledged their fullest
support to the movement:
1.. Goa Heritage Action Group
2.. Bailancho Saad
3.. Nisarg
4.. Goa Can
5.. PMCA - Peoples Movement of Civic Action
6.. Goa Peoples Forum
7.. Botanical Society of Goa
8.. Goa Manch
9.. Nisarg Nature Club
10.. Goa Mundkars & Tenants association
11.. ECHO Goa
12.. Nitoll Jinn Trust
13.. Lok Shakti
14.. Council for Social Justice & Peace - Fr. Maverick
15.. Utt Goenkar
16.. Citizens Initiative for Communal Harmony
- To all Goanetters help to spread the word and speak out to protect Goa
and let your voices be heard from far and near.
- We need to commend the Archdiocese of Goa and our Archbishop for speaking
out along with leaders from other religious affiliations, the media and all
Goans for fighting to preserve our beloved Goa and the Goan way of life. To
everyone who came to the meetings and have sent the message out we all owe
you our immense gratitude.
We do not want our Goa to become a concrete jungle with malls, ugly
monstrosities and high rises where in the name of development our Goan
fields, rivers, beaches and hills are destroyed and sold to the rich and
famous and infamous.
A Regional Plan needs to truly reflect the hopes, aspirations, dreams and
needs of the Goan people. It needs to protect and preserve Goa and it's
beautiful environment, it's culture and ethos, it's heritage and it's rich
legacy.
Nigel you and the students of today are truly Goa's future. We are behind
you and will ensure that Goa is protected, preserved and prospers for the
future Generations of Goans! For every Goan who flights to preserve that
mango tree, that verdant hill, that red soil of our beautiful Goa, that
stretch of white pristine beach, that very clear air that we breathe and
water that we drink from our wells and springs and rivers, that Goan way of
life - we salute you on this our Republic Day and stand behind you. We do
not need corrupt politicians, communal elements with their Machiavellian
schemes and greedy real estate devleopers to dictate to us their ideas for
the future of Goa which is a plan for Goa's destruction. A Regional Plan
should be one which keeps the interest of Goa and Goans as it's focus. We
would like to know who was responsible for coming up with this hogwash in
the first place. At the recent Global Goan's Convention (January 3rd to 5th)
we spoke out against the Regional Plan at the Interactive Session and sadly
their answers/ excuses were extremely disappointing in fact pathetic.
Goans must make sure that they stand up and speak for themselves and not be
intimidated. Clearly every Goan should stand up and speak out and make sure
that their voices are heard loud and clear. Goa needs to be protected and
preserved our forefathers toiled hard to give us what we need to presereve
and protect for future generations. Every Goan needs to be protected from
the new diseases that we see like plasmodium falciporum malaria, dengue
fever and Chikungunya that our parentds and grand-parents never heard off
and Goa should not get the dubious distinction of having exported these
diseases to Europe and the rest of the world (see the recent posts on
Goanet). Every mango tree and every coconut palm and every tree in our Goan
forests needs to be protected for it has taken decades and centuries for our
forests to grow to what it is today but they can all be erased and destroyed
overnight. Every Goan child as a daughter or son of the soil has the right
to have an access to our Goan beaches and feel the soft white sands and the
waves curl softly on it's toes and not have concrete jungles and the five
star culture blatantly violate the CRZ regulations and destroy our sand
dunes and prevent us from enjoying the beauty oof our world-famous beaches.
Where is the law and order for our temples, churches and insitutions when we
see antiques, religious icons being stolen and nobody seems to care what is
happening? What about basic transportation, drinking water and uninterrupted
power supply, the proper education and health care sytem? We don't need the
Dr. Shawl's trying to grab our prime Goan beach lands in the guise of
setting up a hospital. We don't need the Guptas', to tell Dr. Oscar Rebello
what to do so that Gupta's real estate firm can continue to destroy Goa.
Goans can decide on what they need and should tell the politicians and the
MLAs what they should be doing. We don't need a Pandora box off destruction
and damage to our beautiful Goa our environment and our Goan people and our
culture and our Goan way of life.
It's time for all Goans whether in Goa or other parts of the world to speak
out on behalf of Goa and Goans!
Alwin
>From: "Nigel Britto" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: [Goanet] Article: Topic: Regional Plan and Student
> participation - for favour of publication
>
>Respected Sir...
>
>This article contains my views about the Regional Plan and Student
>participation...
>I slightly had to modify the article I had sent you yesterday, so here it
>is...
>Please publish it at your discretion...
