Call for Panjim: give us missionaries,not mercenaries

Call for Panjim: give us missionaries,not mercenaries
SUJAY GUPTA
PANJIM, MARCH 6
A week is a long time in politics. And that’s exactly the time Panjim has to try and cut some of its losses. By this time next Monday the people of Panjim would already have voted and known the ultimate result of their choices. On Monday morning next week, one set of people will be making moves to assume office and run the affairs of Goa’s capital city. On Monday morning next week, there will another result that will stare at us in the face. A result which will tell us if the people of Panjim and by natural extension the people of Goa have won.
The way the elections to the Corporation of the City of Panjim is being fought is more reminiscent of a big ticket investment in a mega project by the ruling panel which has ruled the city in the last term. Herald has put pictures of people in their huts with brand new 38 cm TV sets which are within their reach only in a bizarre dream.
But the man who wants to claim Panjim as his has been plying them with these gifts of TV sets, washing machines, bicycles and so on.
This is obviously a violation of the code of conduct. But these things aren’t fashionable anymore. Yes this is as big loot as the other ones we have reported in this series. This is the loot of the political process. And if other candidates and panels have not registered a single complaint, knowing fully well that this loot is happening, then they should be charged with being a party to this abject loot.
The long and the short of this is simple yet almost difficult. Difficult because we have forgotten the habit of picking good clean candidates who will not pass your projects illegally, give you NOCs for buildings without documents, increase the FSI of our building against norms. Yet they will do good for your city. Proper pavements will be built, sewage will be treated scientifically, waste will be managed without money being paid to contractors who do not do their job and a new market will be set up and shops allotted legally.
On the other hand this is simple because selecting good people is relatively simple if you know where to look. Panjim is one of the smallest towns anywhere, everyone knows everyone, the decision to choose between the clean and the tainted is easy. But only if we really want to.
The picture of the Loot of Panjim is far grimmer than the sum total examples we have put forth. Investigations and inquiries have revealed glimpses of the enormity of how deep Panjim has been allowed to be sunk. Expenses have been made without orders or sanctions. Posts have been allotted without procedures. Moreover when the executive arm of the Corporation has suggested cost effective methods for various projects the political arm has shot it down because someone somewhere had to make money out of kickbacks.
One example is the machine called a digester bought to compost waste. This was bought at a cost of close to Rs two crores in 2009 when the CCP commissioner told the mayor and the corporators that the money would be better spent by constructing compost pits in parts of Panjim coupled with proper house-to-house collection so that bio-degradable waste could be composted. This would have led to a huge reduction in the quantum of waste going to the present dump site. None of this happened. The digester hardly did what it was supposed to either.
This is just one of the countless examples lying by the roadside. The failure has been colossal. And the failure has been ours. The people of Panjim have allowed an election to the Corporation of a city to be morphed into a playground for selfish politicians. Since when did an election to ensure that this ancient city is preserved, its heritage respected, its city systems work become not just that but a stepping stone for one MLA wanting to capture – and we use the word capture with responsibility – Panjim to add to his clout in the Goa assembly. And yet we have people fuelling a personal ambition and selling Panjim at the altar of this selfishness.
At the same time, the other power centre too has made mistakes. After all can Panjim forget the attempt to change street names bearing Portuguese names in the quaint streets of Mala and Fontainhas? Can the acts of omission and commission of earlier Corporation completely be forgotten? But we are to blame for this. We have not chosen judiciously.
But this time the danger is more if we fail because the politicians who are battling for Panjim are actually battling for their future in politics. It is not your city that is their first concern.
And that is precisely why the whole of Goa calls upon Panjim to elect people to represent their wards who will give back to the city. We need missionaries not mercenaries for Panjim. And we can start by washing out the old and giving people with a clear agenda for the city a chance. An agenda that can be monitored. An agenda that can be called to account. An agenda which is transparent. An agenda which is not corruptible.
We have deliberately not mentioned the name of a single politician for two reasons. You know who they are and secondly this election should be beyond specific politicians. It should, for a change be for us.