Dear Dr. Jose Colaco, Thank you for your post. At the outset, let me reiterate that I have no personal interest in the dispute as I am not a member and I do not know of any of my relatives being members of GWS. And I do not personally know any of the disputing parties; therefore, the question of my taking sides just does not arise. My only concern is that two groups in a GOAN organization are embroiled in an internecine quarrel, to the detriment of the Society which has done a lot of good work in the past. My desire is to see that the Society is put back on rails in the shortest possible time. The search for reasons behind this impasse should be only for the purpose of avoiding them in the future. Having said that, I find that your role is limited to prove that, if there was any delay, the responsibility does NOT fall in the lap of Almeida. You say that if there was no handing over of documents etc by the Outgoing Committee to the Incoming Committee, the fault lies with the President (whoever it is) and not with Almeida who was only the Secretary. Yet you assert that it was Almeida himself who handed over whatever it was, and that this was done 'BEFORE' the impugned adverts appeared in newspapers. But you do not state the DATE on which this was done nor the person/s TO WHOM this handing over was done. Was it done just a day prior to the appearance of the ad? Or was it on the day following the election? Please note that your 'BEFORE' encompasses a period of at least a year! If there was a delay, is any explanation provided? And was this handing over done under instructions of the ex-President? And what is the ex-President's explanation for delaying the instructions, if any? Or, do I understand that your brief ends with diverting the blame from Almeida? Does the Society have a tradition of presenting audited accounts at general body meetings? Did the Outgoing Committee present one before it demitted office? Just being "in office" is not sufficient to prove incompetence. Let me cite an example. The Government of Goa appointed Dr. J. C. Almeida as the first Chairman of Goa Public Service Commission but did not provide any infrastructure to carry on his functions. Consequently, he could do nothing worthwhile. Can we, therefore, say that Dr. Almeida was incompetent? And I do remember having read somewhere on the internet an appeal to members of GWS to send in the particulars of their membership, because the Committee does not possess the Record thereof; the 'manipulation' part, perhaps, came to light in the course of such scrutiny? But I am only thinking aloud! Isn't ONE YEAR a long enough wait before inserting an advert in newspapers? I still feel that some well-meaning persons in Kuwait should come forward to cut this Gordian knot, instead of further exacerbating the situation. With best wishes, Sebastian Borges On 23 Jun 2010 15 "J. Colaco < jc>" <cola...@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear Sebastian Borges, Outgoing teams must hand over all documents etc to the Incoming team, that too in a timely fashion. You are very right. This effects a smooth transition. As far as I know, it is the responsibility of the outgoing President to ensure that this happens ....or provide a very good reason why it has not happened. If Gaspar Almeida was the outgoing President, the responsibility would remain in his lap. If he was not the outgoing President, the responsibility would NOT fall in his lap. BTW: I have now seen jpeg documentary proof of what was handed over by Gaspar Almeida BEFORE the advert appeared in the Goa Newspapers (a jpeg version of which I have also seen). The public advert in Goa Newspapers signed by President Coelho and Treasurer Pimenta has made it impossible for peace between these two groups. Those who wanted "unity" should have thought twice about the names they placed in the advert. Where I disagree with you is on the points of Audit and Quorum. If I am reading this correctly, President Wilson Coelho was in office for a whole year before he posted his report on GoaNet. He has NO excuse for not providing AUDITED accounts for the year. As far as the REPORT stated, unaudited accounts were provided. An audit would have served to confirm that No Hanky-Panky took place. Is anyone suggesting that President Wilson Coelho's team was so incompetent that they were unable to write a note to all (known) members via email, Goanet, Goan Causes et al ....asking them to verify their status as members etc? None of this discussion should divert attention from the questions I have posted earlier to President Wilson. And until he answers those questions - the best one can assign to his 'administration' are negligence and incompetence. good wishes jc Sebastian Borges