Date: Wed, 8 Jul 2009 12:42:44 +0530 From: Marshall Mendonza <mmendonz...@gmail.com>
One point which has not come up is the acquistion of land by the Russians and Israelis who have carved out properties and set up boundries where local goans are unwanted and discouraged. Mario observes: The last time I checked India was a democracy where people could associate with anyone they chose to, or not, so what are the police or politicians going to do, given that these people benefit the local economy, something some Goanetters who do not even live in Goa don't seem to care about. I suspect there are local Goans whom Marshall would not want to associate with:-)) Just guessing. I'm sure he'll correct me if I'm wrong:-)) Date: Wed, 8 Jul 2009 07:04:09 -0700 (PDT) From: Gabriel de Figueiredo <gdefigueir...@yahoo.com.au> First of all, allow me to express to sogle Goemkar (not Goankars) on this forum, that an activist, accidental or otherwise, I am not and never will be. I don't know exactly when you, Jane, discovered that there are problems looming, but these have been in existence since a very long time ago.?I am not going to elaborate. And please refrain from shouting. I hear you loud and clear. Calm down. Mario observes: I'm glad to see Gabriel finally admitting that he is a "paper tiger":-)) Does Jane think there are problems brewing in Goa? Oh, so THAT'S why she has decided to live in Mumbai while protecting Goa from afar?:-)) Problems like overcrowding perhaps and gridlock on the roads and water shortages and kachra all over the place? Hey, that sounds like Mumbai to me:-)) Hey, Jane, don't worry about Marshall, unless he lives in the next flat:-)) Shout as loud as you like. But, calm down. Getting excited is not good for your health. The problems in Goa are far away from you and you only have to deal with them when on vacation:-)) Date: Wed, 8 Jul 2009 21:43:18 +0530 From: Rina Mukherji <rina.mukhe...@gmail.com> We are bursting at the seams; US, or most parts of Europe need people, especially migrants. Are these foreigners bringing in some special skills that we are short of? Or are we getting cheap labour that we need? They are here as pensioners because life is affordable and cheap; but does that help Goa at all. If anything, it will send land prices skyrocketing! Mario responds: Rina, It is because you are bursting at the seams with poor people that you need help wherever you can get it. The number of foreigners is small but their contributions in most cases are huge by comparison and a net benefit to the country. India may not need their skills but it needs their money and their goodwill and their attitudes towards order and cleanliness, all of which are sadly lacking among most Indians, at least in public. Who do you think high property values benefit other than the Indians who owned the property and in many cases did not have the money to maintain it? Why has India always been so paranoid about people who would invest in it and help it grow and prosper? Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2009 12:06:25 +0530 From: Domnic Fernandes <domval...@hotmail.com> Early this year, Russians in Morjim even hoisted Russian flag in confirmation of their occupation of most land there. It took public morcha and police force to bring it down. About four months ago, one of the Russians from Morjim publicly assaulted a policeman in Mapusa. Can we behave like this in a foreign land? Mario responds: Yes, you can in the US. However, you could be convicted and jailed for assault, and perhaps deported. You can even burn a US flag as an expression of your opinion. Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2009 11:31:26 +0530 From: "Ashley D'silva" <ashleyivordsi...@gmail.com> Well this time the people have voted for someone else. Only time will tell; till then one has to patiently wait for the situation to ease out and hope for the best, get involved in civic & political affairs etc and create pressure modules. So the basic issue is the infrastructure - who is going to create it first or Rather build the MEGA COLONIES , AND THEN START ALL THE INFRASRTUCTURE. Mario responds: Ashley, Good points. Voting the rascals out is the only option in a civilized democracy in addition to getting involved in civic and political affairs. Of course you then have to fill the gap by voting in honest and accomplished people WHO ALSO HAVE SOME AKKAL. Infrastructure should ALWAYS preceed the rest of the development. This is hardly rocket science, but only common sense. The sequential steps in an organized development have been well established, even in India. The technology is also freely availsble. India has some of the best architects and civil engineers and urban planners in the world. Some of them are Goans like Charles Correa-Afonso and Bruno Sousa and Bonny Fernandes - some of whom worked to organize other countries on behalf of the UN but who were never consulted in their own state. What a waste of world-class talent. It is the civic corruption at all levels and the public carelessness in India that I am constantly railing against that gets in the way of the proper application of common sense.
