FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 2024
Spare a thought for healthcare workers
Sterling service provided by the healthcare workers saw us navigate through the first wave of Covid last year but the second wave is set to extract a mental and physical toll on these warriors. Drenched in sweat, even fainting in their heavy PPE kits, working @ 24x7 away from their loved ones, getting infected , watching critical patients expire and fearing death themselves, they soldiered on to deliver us from the scourge.
A second wave has already got the workers on edge, the only bright spot is that they are going to march in vaccinated; yet working in such trying conditions , dehydrated, not being able to use the washroom or take proper breaks for meal/water demands superhuman mental and physical resources. The least we can do to help our superheroes is not to take the virus lightly, follow Covid appropriate behaviour, mask up, maintain distance and not venture out to public spaces / functions unless there is a pressing need. Each one of us can also educate one person to adhere to anti-virus protocols, that should infact be our duty.
The state government should also boost morale by granting permanent registration to interns who had battled through Covid Version 1, reward them with enhanced pay and allowances... it is sad to note that were paid a paltry sum of Rs 20000 pm the last time around. We all need to show respect and do whatever little we can to enthuse our healthcare professionals as they gear up to battle Covid 2.0
Vinay Dwivedi, Benaulim
Fuel is like the ‘cash cow’
This has reference to the report ‘Taxi fares will be hiked in view of fuel price hike’ (Herald, April 8). The authorities need to do a rethink as to whether hiking the taxi fares to offset the hike in fuel prices is the right step. Of course, public transport like taxis & auto-rickshaws has been hit on account of the fuel price hike coupled with the rampaging Coronavirus. The Maharashtra government recently enforced a hike in taxi & auto-rickshaw fares to help them tide over the loss due to the pandemic.
But, that doesn't seem to have gone down well with them. In fact, a large number of them have actually opposed the fare hike, citing loss of patronage on account of the pandemic. So, where do we stand? The authorities need to find some other ways to help them in this crisis situation. Offering a fare hike is like tackling the symptoms rather than going to the root of the disease.
Fuel is like the 'cash cow' for the central as well as state governments, both earning a handsome revenue from their own taxes. Can they reduce their taxes and better still opt for one common tax like GST in the long run? Let's take the bull by the horns rather than by the tail!
Melville X. D'Souza, Mumbai
Rs 500 penalty for not wearing a mask
Even as Goa is witnessing a huge surge in the number of COVID-19 positive cases, the state government has ruled out imposing another lockdown while Section 144 has been withdrawn. However it has been decided to impose heavy fines on those who do not follow social distancing and are found roaming without wearing face-mask. Restrictions are also in place on the number of people that can be accommodated at gatherings.
It is learnt that in Indore in a bid to inculcate appropriate behavior among people, those citizens found roaming in public places without wearing a mask have been sent to a temporary jail. A community guesthouse was designated as a temporary jail. Those not wearing a mask were detained in the temporary jail for three hours under Section 151 (Precautionary arrests made to prevent cognizable offences) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CRPC). Before adopting this measure, people found roaming without wearing a mask were asked to give a bond that they will follow all the COVID-19 guidelines.
Desperate situations call for desperate measures. It appears that just like imposing a penalty for riding a two-wheeler helmetless or driving a four-wheeler without the safety-belt, there is little impact on people violating the face- mask rule. Only a very steep hike in the penalty of up to Rs 500 for not wearing a mask may achieve the desired result.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Glaring defects of Atul Setu
The third Mandovi bridge (Atal Setu) was hurriedly inaugurated on February 5, 2019 but over two years later the bridge is yet to be complete in all respects. There are huge piles of debris lying all over at both ends of the bridge. The wing entering the city (Panjim end) is also yet to be completed with the work abandoned for over a year.
With hundreds of crores having been spent the government was duty-bound to ensure that very rigorous Quality Control Standards were not bypassed in their attempt to hastily get it completed. The glaring defects that have so quickly surfaced on this bridge is a matter of concern and disturbing. Let us keep our fingers crossed on the assurance that this bridge would last over 100 years.
The construction may have been entrusted to an otherwise reputed company Larsen & Toubro but a lot of ancillary works having been allocated to petty sub-contractors and the shoddy execution was there for all to see.
Less said the better on that infamous 2014 concretization of the Miramar-Dona Paula Road. We were assured that it would be a state of the art road having a dedicated cycling track. But the end product is there on public display. It has been so poorly and shabbily executed with that promised cycling track nowhere in sight. What we can see today across Goa is also the glaring poor construction of highways and connecting flyovers. All this is unacceptable as taxpayers money has to be very judiciously spent with quality of the works never ever compromised.
The government would be well advised to inaugurate any project only when it is completed in all respects. Also the foundation of any project be laid when the work actually commences. Across Goa we have a gallery of foundation stones rotting for years with not even a brick laid.
The onus is also on the citizens to be very vigilant about public projects coming up in their neighborhood as ensuring quality, sustainable infrastructure with respect for the environment, is everyone's responsibility.
Aires Rodrigues, Ribandar
Daylight killers, the cookie crumbles
While the whole world is in the throes of phases of lockdowns battling to contain the deadly coronavirus, little is known of the clandestine ways the bigwigs and unscrupulous corporates have left humanity on the trail of a red herring in search of the elusive COVID-19 virus. But these nuggets of information lends credence to the origin of the virus.
The Chinese biological laboratory in Wuhan owned by Glaxosmithkline which in turn owns Pfizer, the maker of the vaccine, promoted and funded by White House Chief Medical Advisor Dr Anthony Fauci. Glaxosmithkline is managed by the finance division of Black Rock of Soros Foundation which owns the German company Winterthur which was instrumental in building the Chinese laboratory in Wuhan. Coincidentally Black Rock is a major shareholder of Bill Gates, Microsoft which has a majority stake in Pfizer and is the first sponsor of the WHO.
Now we can understand how a dead bat sold in a wet market in China has infected the whole planet. These frankenstein stakeholders in the Wuhan lab are daylight killers and this is how the cookie crumbles.
Everette Assis Telles, Margao
