Give us safety and good infrastructure, Goan expats tell govt By Frederick Noronha
PANJIM, Dec 29: Goa wants to lure back expat interest in Goa, to bring in investments and skills. But expats are telling the state to pull up its socks and improve things, and deliver results instead of promises. >From problems (and even fraud) with banks, to threats to their ancestral properties, and the growing urban chaos... expats had a lot to complain about, as a one-day overseas Goan convention turned sharply critical of the failure of governance in India's smallest state. Sunday's gathering was the fourth annual event of its kind. It was smaller than earlier years' gatherings, but organisers argued that this event was qualitatively different in that it had the official state-government backing. Earlier in the day, the limited number of expats -- mingling with a larger crowd of officials and local participants in the Kala Academy Black Box -- heard out what was being offered to them. Banks, insurance companies and other institutions made offers to attract expat interest. Goa also offered to help those expats in need (specially less-affluent Gulf workers) and harness the skills of those who have achieved education and a wide range of professions abroad. NRI Goa Facilitation Centre chairman and local 'Rashtramath' Marathi daily editor Chandrakant Keni, remarked to this correspondent that chief minister Manohar Parrikar had promised to actively promote the non-resident Goan involvement in Goa. It was possible that the cell could grow into a corporation or some such body, he suggested. But expats voiced their concern over the way in which things were sliding, and sharply voiced their need for a fair deal. Panjim-based J.Silveira, who spent 33 years in Dubai, explained how he had returned home in an emergency once, and the bank manager where his fixed-deposits were kept had failed to give him a small loan against his deposits. "I asked the branch manager if he could lend me Rs 30,000 against my deposit of Rs 250,000. He said there was no rule to do so," said Silveira. "This is what we get as an NRI-reception from the ban. We don't want any favours or special treatment (but just our due)." He explained how the collapse of the rupee against the dollar meant that he would be heavily penalised for an insurance policy which he had to pay for in dollars, being an NRI. He criticised former chief minister Luizinho Faleiro for not taking any initiative over his proposal to invest in Goa. "I've been out (of Goa) for 33 years. We lost, lost and lost. In banking we have no respect, in LIC we lose, and in the government, we have no respect either," he complained. Vivian D'Souza, a US-returned expat based in Socorro, called himself a victim of the 'bhailo' syndrome, where he was being treated as an 'outsider'. To laughter and ire, he narrated how he tried to buy a scooter, for which he needed a ration card, and on going to the panchayat and mamlatdar, he was told he was a "bailo". Said Vivian: "I love Goa, this is my land." "What is a ration card? I don't know what it is because they won't give it to me. It seems like anything I do, I'll need a ration card," he commented. Wilson Coelho of Curtorim and the Kuwait-based Goan Welfare Society suggested that the needs of the Gulf-based Goan was different from that of Goans in the West. "We do need such assurances (like the newly unveiled group insurance policies). Our (less-fortunate) brothers in the Gulf need safety," he said. Coelho noted that the stay of Goans in the Gulf was temporary, and as long as they held on to their jobs. "Once your job is gone, you need to pack your bag and baggage and come home," he noted. In a sharp presentation, he suggested that NRIs could build their own township if the government helped them with getting land. Coelho criticised Indian Airlines for "monopolising" the Kuwait-Goa route and over-charging. "It costs 212 Kuwaiti Dinars (nearly Rs 40,000) for the four hour flight. For the Kuwait-Toronto flight, which is nearly 18 hours long, it costs just 250KD," he added. He suggested that Air-India, Kuwait Airways or Gulf Air or Emirates be given slots to fly on the Gulf-Goa sector. "There are not less than 30,000 Goans in Kuwait alone," he said, indirectly questioning the earlier estimate of cell officials that there are just about 70-100,000 people of Goan origin settled globally. "We don't want orations. We want action," he said. Coelho argued that tourism needed a good communication infrastructure, good roads, and something to do while visiting Goa. He accused "parasites and corrupt people" locally of preying on the earnings of expats. "We are sons of the soil. Why are parasites attacking us," he questioned. He said the EDC was "slow" in helping his expat group when they had been approached in 1984. He questioned the official policy of over-building the hotel and bars sector, saying proper planning was needed before making investment decisions for the economy. Coelho highlighted the plight of Goan domestics working in the Gulf, and those who had to get 'emigration clearance' before leaving India. He stressed the need for professional education for their children -- and their willingness to pay for the same. Some other issues raised included critiquing the move to shift the airport to the remote northern pocket of Mopa. Coelho called on the EDC to make it easier for Goan expats to do business in their home state. "We have been managing businesses for others. Why can't we do it for ourselves?" he asked. Edgar Martins, an engineer from Canada, stressed the need for dual nationality. "I am a national of Portugal, Britain and Canada. Nobody can throw me out of these three countries," he said. "Here it takes two years to get a water connection, the sarpanch is an ex-goon, and when the mamlatdar says 'stand up straight' I have to do so just to get that tiny signature. Even the talathi, that small little fellow without education...," said he. Repeatedly, the issue of expats losing their properties under the contentious Mundkar (Home-Stead Tenant) Act came up for debate. Martins said: "We're losing our houses and properties to somebody else who's name is in the Form I & XIV." Martins narrated how he had been allegedly defrauded by a chartered accountant of a sum of Rs 10 lakh (1 million). "We are intelligent people, but we are crooks," said Martins. Camilo Alvares voiced his interest in building a small school for the disabled, a stage to promote Goan culture, and a few flats for senior citizens on his plot. Alex Homem of Nairobi said: "Where did this Form 1 & XIV come from? My mother left me a plot but I can't develop it. There are so many people on that Form I & XIV." Some participants raised questions about what the NRI-Goan initiative had achieved since it was set up some three years back. Vitorino Pinto of Geneva, who worked in the Camara (municipality) some fifty years back, said he was keen to get some UN centre for environmental studies to Goa. "One of the ministers (of that time) came and asked 'Can I get a chance to go to Geneva?'", he confided. US-based writer Victor Rangel Ribeiro, who chaired the session, narrated how his mother-in-law spoke to God in Konkani prior to his operation. She had said: "Saiba, te voizak bore budd dhi." (Lord, give wisdom to that doctor.) Said a half-serious Rangel Ribeiro: "Why did she have to speak in Konkani? She's an NRI too." Officials responded by saying the Parrikar government had taken this initiative, which was praiseworthy. They promised to look at issues like an NRI township, more flights to Goa, and held out the promise of SMART cards as a solution to the lack of 'ration cards' identity documents for expats. Editor Keni stressed that the body was recommendatory in nature, and not an implementing body. EDC officials requested expats to visit their www.edcgoa.com site and fill up the feedback form at www.nrigoa.com Some local participants taking part in the event agreed with their expats' critique. "If expats profess to love Goa, they should also make it a point to know what rot is going on here," said long-time campaigner Roland Martins of the Mapusa-based GoaDesc. (GoaNet/2002) ------------------------------ CopyLeft 2002 FN. May be reproduced provided entire message is kept intact. ------------------------------ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ To unsubscribe from Goanews Send a mail message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: 'unsubscribe goanews'
