Diana Pinto - Herald Oct. 25, 2007 [editorial] What an insult CM?? It is insulting to Goans that Chief Minister Digamber Kamat and Francisco Sardinha expect us to be satisfied with their assurance that the Government will not supply water to SEZs. coming up in the state. So then, are the SEZ developers going to import water from the rest of the country or maybe even abroad?
The Government makes lopsided policies and the locals are compelled to pay a heavy price. If the Chief Minister is willing, I will be happy to personally escort him around the Verna Industrial Estate, where almost every industry has sunk borewells indiscriminately because the Government had promised a quantity of water that it could not supply. As a consequence, the ground water table in the surrounding villages has been seriously depleted. Even today, in the proposed SEZ in Verna, the developers are certainly not depending on the Government's erratic and undependable water supply but have already started sucking the ground water through borewells and the locals can brace themselves for a future of long, hard, dry days. Rules and laws are made to be followed by the 'aam aadmi'. But the GIDC Board apparently, is above all rules and all laws as can be seen from the manner in which the Board has allotted huge tracts of our precious land for SEZs in Verna. When elected Governments who are supposed to function as custodians of our collective assets are the ones who are responsible for selling it off, then they compel the people to come out and assert their will. In the case of RO 2011 and SEZs, where huge tracts of land are being handed over on a silver platter to private developers, it is a matter of shame for the Government of the day. The Chief Minister has brazenly assured the people that SEZs have been put into "cold storage", even as work is proceeding at a frenetic pace at the Verna SEZs. Either in his administration 'the right hand does not know what the left hand does' or it is a deliberate attempt at hoodwinking the people now that the Parliamentary elections are upon us. And the CM certainly cannot be serious when he says that the "state government cannot go against the permissions given by the Centre for SEZs in Goa". This is a life changing policy for Goans, affecting their demography, environment, infrastructure and even identity. Does the CM need to be reminded that he has been elected to look after the interests of Goans and not serve as a puppet of the Centre? If necessary, he has to fight against any policy thrust upon Goa by the Centre which goes against the interests of the people he has promised to serve. Lambert Mascarenhas - GT- Oct. 25, 2007 Inauguration Spree? WHY should or must the Chief Minister Digamber Kamat opt to accept invitations to inaugurate some trivial association or be chief guest at some inconsequential functions da in and day out when he is expected, as head of the government, to concentrate on the affairs of the state? Is this his 'aam aadmi' concept of good governance? In no democratic government of the world is the Chief Minister, or even the other ministers, are seen wasting their time in such useless performancies over which I think, the Goa media is highly responsible in high-lighting. As a retired journalist, I also feel that the media in Goa is lionising Churchill Alemao, who is surviving in Goan politics on bombast, and does not realise his limitations. COMMENTS: We Goans had the pleasure of enjoying one of the fabulous tiatrs of old named "THE PORTUGUEZ KOLVONTH" Today Goans have the pleasure of seeing the 'GOAN KOLVONTH' on display in Goa's political show. What did Diana Pinto and Lambert Mascarenhas expect? 'nach gho Kolvontha nach' - 'Gagro fuloun nach' floriano goasuraj ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- GOA needs a 'REVOLUTION' if it is to see better days. Goasuraj is that revolution. Support it. email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website: www.goasu-raj.org