Circulated on social media is a desperate message of Babush Monserrate’s fairy tale assurances to the residents of Ribandar. If it has been written by the Panaji MLA it is a feat. For someone who has not passed his 8th Std the vocabulary used in that message though messy and rustic was not that awful. That he went on to become the Education Minister of Goa is another issue.
At the very outset it needs to be pointed out that in his 2016 CCP election manifesto for the people of Ribandar, Babush Monserrate had made five solemn promises. Building of a new market place, Development of Garden and walkway parallel to the existing causeway, that the Football ground would be completed, building of the Hindu crematorium on a priority and restoration of old structures and monuments. The five year term of the CCP has just ended and none of those five promises have been fulfilled. Leaving aside the unfulfilled Ribandar promises, a perusal of that manifesto reveals that Babush Monserrate has also not delivered on a single promise made to the residents of Panaji. How the hell does he expect the people to ever trust him again? While now promising a total face-lift of Ribandar in the next five years, it has been assured that the roads of Ribandar will be hot mixed from the first week of April. Doesn’t say which April. And how can the roads be hot-mixed without the current underground cabling work which has been dragging on is first complete. It is now promised that the Health Centre at the old Ribandar Hospital is going to see the light of the day before the onset of monsoons, once again which monsoons. And why has Babush Monserrate been avoiding meeting the residents of Ribandar for the last three months for an update on this issue. And why was he so silent on this crucial topic when it was raised by Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardessai in January during the last session of the Goa Legislative Assembly. It is pertinent to note that both of his now candidates from Ribandar and his former Corporator who is now also contesting again were all conspicuous by their absence during our struggle for the Health Centre. Was it on their Master’s direction? It is promised that the Market complex will be completed in a year’s time. This was also in the 2016 manifesto. Is at least the paper work of the market complex now ready? Babush Monserrate’s has also promised that Ribandar will have a resurrection in a year’s time. Sir Isac Newton had predicted that the world will end in 2060. So for now we are all safe but Babush Monserrate can expect no resurrection in Ribandar this time around. On the promise to transform completely the lives of our Ribandar Women in the next five years less said the better. For now all that we know is that the last time Chief Minister Pramod Sawant visited Ribandar in April 2019 during that campaign for Panaji Assembly by-election he had publicly cautioned the people of Ribandar by saying “Babush Monserrate is facing Rape charges and if a Rapist becomes your MLA, the ladies and girls of Ribandar will be so very unsafe”. Today’s whatsapp message also appeals to the people to be on Babush’s victorious boat. Sorry, but after experiencing all the U Turns, fake and false promises for all these years we would anytime be better off on the Titanic. We have already seen the flamboyant Babush Monserrate taking the city to a disaster on all fronts, so now all we need is simple and honest Corporators who will work tirelessly and selflessly to undo this great mess our city finds itself enveloped in. All good things have to come to and end. For Babush Monserrate whose brand is false promises, he is now at the end of that tunnel which is a ray of hope for the residents of the Corporation of City of Panaji. We don’t need an astrologer to predict the predicament that the Panaji MLA finds himself in. Aires Rodrigues Advocate High Court C/G-2, Shopping Complex Ribandar Retreat, Ribandar – Goa – 403006 Mobile No: 9822684372 Office Tel No: (0832) 2444012 Email: airesrodrigu...@gmail.com Or airesrodrig...@yahoo.com You can also reach me on Facebook.com/ AiresRodrigues Twitter@rodrigues_aires www.airesrodrigues.com