Diana Pinto
Your editorial “Aiz temkam, faleam tumkam”, was a brilliant exposition on the state of affairs presently existing in Goa. As you have rightly pointed out, Goa is lurching from one crisis to another for 100 days now without the vision and direction of a Home Minister and a Chief Minister. However, the jury is still out on whether we were really better off 100 days ago or in present times.
It will be recalled that it was the present dispensation, guided, controlled and driven by its Chief Minister/home Minister, who laid down a red carpet extending from Delhi to Goa, when he put the State of Goa at the disposal of the Delhi political masters to be used at their pleasure and discretion. It was this present government that opened the doors of Goa to that massive concretisation spree that we are currently witnessing, as Goa’s natural beauty and the USP of its tourism is ruthlessly destroyed to make way for six-lane highways, flyovers and fancy bridges that we can ill afford, but which will provide favoured coal barons and industrialists with the thoroughfare that they need for their business interests. It was this government too, that willingly surrendered Goa’s precious rivers without a murmur of protest to the Central Government’s ill conceived nationalisation spree, paving the way for displacement of traditional fishermen and residents.
For a long time now, Goa has been in effect, a political pawn, whose development has been conceptualised and executed not for the benefit of Goa, its people, it’s economy and its tourism industry, but for the convenience and exploitation of favoured vested interests. Tourists can glide into the state in their vehicles and set up rasois, laundry rooms and bedrooms in our fields and on our pavements unhindered, whilst the authorities turn a convenient Nelson’s eyes as Goa’s tourism is taken to hitherto unplumbed depths. Casinos, drug culture, prostitution and all forms of debauchery are being marketed in the guise of tourism. Rule of law abdicated from Goa a long time ago as can be seen from the free for all masquerading as tourism.
In such circumstances, it is unrealistic to expect safety, security and protection of tourists to be on the agenda of a government that has failed to provide these essentials to its own people.
The bells are already tolling for the end of our tourism industry. The knock out punch was already dealt to Goa’s mining industry by a leader of opposition some time ago.
