Nothing wrong in the appointment of the eventual consultant ICLEI – South Asia, especially since it has an impressive list of partners and member cities, but the credibility of politicians in Goa is so low, that even a small exercise of choosing a consultant is looked upon with suspicion by Goans these days.
Most Goans unable to come to terms with the recent consultant kickbacks saga that played out, are baffled with the magnitude of corruption that took place and therefore should be forgiven for thinking that every government consultant appointment involves kickbacks. In such an atmosphere it would be better if ICLEI – South Asia give a written undertaking to the people of Goa, that there were no kickbacks paid inorder to win the appointment. This small pro-active step should give them a head start and probably break the ice, as far as trust of the people of Panjim is concerned, at least at the beginning.
For the moment, let’s assume every move made by the government authorities in this smart city project is sincere and honest. If that is really the case, then it is better they first focus on the issue of transparency, meaning every small decision taken or rejected during the conceptualization as well as the execution stage, is communicated effectively through a dedicated website and major decisions announced in the mainstream media for the benefit of offline citizens. Many might argue that this will be a tedious affair and a drag on the project, but this is a small price to pay, if they are keen on repairing the marred reputation previous governments have left on the Goan psyche, as far as government functioning and awarding of contracts are concerned.
As far as involving the general public goes, organizing debates, cycling events, panel discussion might create good optics, and earn some goodwill among the local population, but Goa has a reputation of creating an excellent illusion that makes its citizens enjoy a good show, and then deliver the actual project diametrically opposite hoping that the people forget the illusion they had seen years ago, in an inebriated state, thanks to the freely supplied alcohol by a sponsor at the event. Eventually when they do wake up sober, they find out how the booze serving sponsor had commercial interests in the smart city project.
These types of devious techniques might have worked in the past, but really it is time to do some smart, honest and selfless thinking, because what we think and decide today will benefit the Generation Next, and mind you, we mess up now, we run the risk of being ridiculed by a smarter generation that will follow. At the moment these smart city brain storming sessions are turning into social events, and chances are that the project money will get allocated to the most vocal or the preferred group.
Usually in a project like this, funds should be allocated on game changing projects that usually have visibility in the long term. Investments should be made in technology that remains relevant for the future and not turn outdated by the time the project is completed. Agreed, everything we plan and design will eventually turn outdated, but to begin the project by using outdated technology is just a waste of time and funds. Unfortunately politicians due to their limited visibility are going to be tempted to allocate funds which must show results before their next elections.
For example the smart city project decides to focus on supplying uninterrupted electrical power not only to Panjim but to entire Goa because it makes economic sense. So even if they complete the underground cabling and achieve this feat, they would still be behind the curve, because they would still be buying power from NTPC or Reliance, having made no plans to create our own power generation capacity. Therefore on a scale of 1 to 10 laying cables underground, would score only a 2/10 because the world including India is moving towards clean energy. Twenty years back we could give the government a score 9/10 for this effort but not now. So what, if we win exclusive coal block allocation in other states to meet our power needs, it would still be using fossil fuels instead of clean energy. To score a 9/10 in the present time Goa must think of creating our own hybrid clean energy with the mix of wind and solar. Yes it would require vast tracts of land but even that could be worked out if we focus on offshore wind turbines. For that they will have to change our mindset from licensing offshore casinos to installing offshore wind turbines.
Not that Goa will not attempt clean energy initiatives, but mostly cosmetic, by announcing a project here or a project there. The challenge is these types of long gestation projects need massive funding which the Government of Goa will never have, because of their prolonged periods of financial mismanagement and the Smart City project will not provide. Historical fallout of executing a project like this in a piecemeal manner, we end up in a situation we presently have in Panjim, parallel bridges across the Mandovi. Surely that does not look smart even optically.
(Plastino D’Costa is a
business consultant)
