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   Enescil, a Brazilian engineering firm requires Engineers, Architects

    and Draftsmen, proficient in AutoCAD, for their new office in Goa

   Those interested can email enescil....@gmail.com by 15 November 2011

     Selected candidates will be sent to Brazil for 2 months training

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In a recent interview Dean D'Cruz said that the objective of the non-occupancy 
tax was to "force" owners of closed flats to start renting them. This would 
bring more housing into the market and reduce the pressure.
 
http://www.epapernavhind.in/20112011/epaperimages//20112011-md-ga-5//445559.jpg
 
As a house owner, I should not be penalized for not renting an owned flat or 
house. The laws in Goa are hardly in favour of owners. Many NRIs choose not to 
rent out their flats for various reasons.
 
But that is not the point. The more important factor to be realized here is 
that the leasing (renters) market and buyers market are not the same. The 
leasing market is quite depressed in Goa. Rent yield is about 1/3 in comparison 
to other cities in India. So the demand for rentals is very manageable and need 
not be addressed at all by altering supply.
 
The purpose of tax is to curb speculative buying which artificially inflates 
the price. It is not rocket science to address this issue. The tax need not be 
based on ethnicity at all. Those with ties to Goa -either through long term 
domicile and work or through ethnicity - will naturally be exempt. While all 
others should be subject to this tax.
 
This tax is just one prong in the solution. It is not going to be a magic 
bullet which will take care of the problem. The price rise also factors in 
inflation, interest rates and rising cost of materials. Long term solutions to 
the housing crisis must include government assistance to middle-class families 
by way of interest-free loans or undertaking a project building good standard 
affordable homes. 
 
(incidentally the archives will reveal that with my prescient knowledge, I 
mooted this idea of a tax long before anyone else mentioned it in Goa. hah!)
 
Best,
selma


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