Mr. Maciel writes:
"What a monstrosity when thereare far more urgent problems crying out for Government assistance, e.g.provision of adequate toilets and clean water in some of the slum areas" While it is difficult to justifyspending resources on the tallest statue in the world, one must considerthe positives: 1. People have been building statuesforever. This one is just a lot bigger. Hopefully it will last forever. 2. It is bound to have a hugeinspirational value for the young ones and future generations. 3. It will create plenty of economicactivity and resources invested will be easily recovered. 4. It honors a man who worked forthe unification of India. 5. Mr. Modi the Prime Minister ofIndia is from Gujarat and it is known that this is what Gujarat wants. While it may be a "vanityproject", a country ranking #4 in the world GDP at $9.5 Trillion cansurely have room in the budget for such a small "vanity" project. As far as the toilet issue, a better sanitationprocess is needed. When water is such a scarce resource it is difficultprioritize its use to flush sewage as required by the state of the art toiletsin use today. As far as providing clean water andadequate housing in the slum areas, keep on preaching. Regards, E, DeSousa
