....Legal and Admin Director wrote to me, letter received 12th December 2009, rejecting my resignation, furthermore giving me an ultimatum - might as well call him 'De Mendonca, the ultimatum man!' This was when the G.O.A. Board were fully aware that I was away on vacation.
I arrived back in the U.K. with just a couple of days to spare.The letter stated that it was unacceptable that I had posted my resignation on Goanet, even though I had sent my letter to the Company secretary, by recorded delivery mail - in short, they were peeved that I had resigned on an open forum as well. This is what was quoted back to me by 'honourable Legal and Admin Dir. Paul De Mendonca:- ''I quote below the relevant Article (5) on this subject. ''....any such member may resign from the G.O.A. by giving notice in writing to the Secretary......'' Then I was given a specimen letter, on how to resign by 'Hon Legal and Admin Dir. Paul De Mendonca' The specimen letter was to be addressed to the 'Company Secretary'. I was further informed elsewhere in the letter to tender my resignation to the 'Company Secretary' or else they would call an E.G.M. to expel me - apparently this was an unanimous decision by the General Body! Decision arrived at, after hearing their side of the story; my letter of protestation was not read. The Board of the G.O.A. prejudged and only put their side of the story and directed the outcome at the E.G.M. Instead of following best practice benchmark standard - they follow worst practice standard. I replied, that according to the Rules, the resignation letter had to be sent to the 'Secretary' not the 'Company Secretary' as stated by' Hon Admin and Legal Director, Paul De Mendonca. The only reason that I had sent my letter to the Company Secretary was because the Secretary would not correspond with me. This is an example of a person at the helm of the G.O.A. who is supposedly a 'Legal and Admin Director' but one who can't read or does not know the difference between a 'Secretary and a Company Secretary'...but still wants to show me the way! The Secretary and I had a big fall out some years ago and that is why she refused to correspond with me - even though I was a Life Member. She had written a letter to me requesting that I support her pet Charity - a young girl who needed funds in the region of £50k for a cochlear implant - the Secreary, wife of the President, applied mild pressure or tried to coerce, by stating that we were Catholics and that we should open up our wallets - words to this effect were used. I replied and asked her if she was a proper Catholic herself. It was meant to question her marital status, as a Catholic. She understood me full well and that is where the problem stems. Time and money spent on the G.O.A. I put in my own money, time and effort to save the Club, also in 1984 on a visit from Hong kong, I immediately opened my wallet and donated on the spot £500 towards a T.V. This was promptly stolen along with a safe which had a substantial sum of money. The Police declared that it was an inside job. No guesses to who was in charge then and who was the Financial Director at that time! I put in money to pay up the Debenture holders who would have every right to foreclose the Association if they were not promptly paid on time. This calamity arose because one Genius of a President had decided and convinced the General Body that the funds that had been set aside to pay the Debenture Holders would be better used to bail out his Board and their outstandings. In short, had I along with two others not stepped in to save the Association, there would have been no assets to crow about now and definitely no G.O.A. (U.K.) Ltd today. It ain't a big task to run an organisation with no encumberances to stymie performance, with income over and above expenditure. Another piece.... This week Galliard has been advertising a “luxury stock liquidation” of new-build flats in Ilford, Essex, with two-bedroom apartments reduced from £320,000 to £149,000. “This just shows how overpriced the properties were in the first place,” says Kate Faulkner, of Designs on Property, the advice website. “Buyers need to do their own research, and not be swayed by promises of a ‘bargain’. “Many who bought off-plan before the credit crunch fell victim to a slick sales pitch from developers without consulting their own independent advisers. For many it has been a very expensive mistake.” Full read @ http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/money/property_and_mortgages/article7051479.ece Ends The recent newsletter by the Board asks if they should buy another property. Well why not -- in for a Penny in for a Pound. Averaging makes good sense at this stage. Especially as there are oodles of properties in the same region as the existing investment. Whatever happened to the mooted idea of buying Office space? Lastly, I received an acknowledgement of my resignation over a month later. This is contrary to what the President preaches, that acknowledgements are done within a week and replies soon aftter. More over, it was the Legal and Admin Director who wrote to me instead of the Secretary. If it ain't broke don't fix it. The Board has acknowledged that their model has broken and needs fixing...they stated in their recent newsletter, to the effect that they can and will change! The President declared: we are the envy of other organisations; the P.R. Director has written on their website that Goans can learn a thing or two from the other Indian organisations! The two Directors should try and get their act together. They are willing and can change? Don't hold your breath!. I have been declared persona non grata - 'The management reserves the right of admission' It is as difficult for me to write this, as it has been difficult for the G.O.A. Board to put out their sham piece to the members. In short, their message is 'Don't question us, we are volunteers'. The past Committees too were volunteers and did much more work and had to work within their means. -- DEV BOREM KORUM Gabe Menezes.