PANJIM: After a short stint in the Public Works Department as a civil engineer, Mario Pereira set up his own construction firm called Dream House Builders. Today he is one of the leading players in the industry. In an interview with the Herald, he spoke about his foray into the industry, his projects and problems people operating in this industry face. Excerpts of the interview.
HERALD: How did you get into the construction business?
MARIO PEREIRA: Well, I had joined the Public Works Department (PWD), Government of Goa as a junior civil engineer in the year 1980 where I worked for a period of 3 years. I later resigned from the PWD and established my own business in the name of ‘Dream House Builders’ and registered the firm as a Class 1B contractor with PWD. And so I commenced taking contracts from PWD for roads and buildings. Eventually I started to construct ownership apartments an my first project was in 1985. Today I have completed numerous projects in the commercial as well as the residential sector.
HERALD: Any new up-coming projects?
MP: A project in the completion stage is ‘Dream Skyline’. It has 170 units, which include shops, apartments, row/independent villas. Another ongoing project is the ‘Dream Village’ which consists 30 luxurious villas. My next project I plan to build will include commercial entities and residential apartments in and around Navelim.
HERALD: What is the USP of your projects?
MP: We cater to the needs of the local Goan. We lay emphasis on providing outstanding service, quality construction and amenities to clients. All our clients are Goans. They prefer Navelim, as it has the infrastructure required like schools, college, banks, market etc. Our marketing is through word of mouth; we maintain a good rapport with our clients and cater to their requirement, which in turn increases our clientele.
HERALD: How is the situation with regards to raw materials?
MP: Earlier, as the construction raw materials were well priced and easily available, and the result was that clients found housing affordable. Now due to inflation in the construction cost, the cost of apartments has accelerated making it very challenging for clients to invest.
HERALD: How has the market been in the last 2-3 years?
MP: The closure of the mining industry has affected Goa as a whole adversely. It is not only the real estate industry. The state economy is in doldrums.
HERALD: What are the problems plaguing the industry?
MP: As a real estate developer and a member of Credai, we carry out our construction activities as per the rules and regulations laid down by the government. We pay the required taxes. Credai has been taking up all the major issues (Reduction of taxes, floor area ratio issues, no provision infrastructure issues etc) time and again with the government.
But in return, we get no support from the government, as there is no basic infrastructure provided by the government.
For example, electrical transformers, which is to be provided by the government, is borne by us. Even after bearing the cost, the electricity department delays in the electricity connection and ultimately, the end customers are the sufferers.
Secondly, there has been resentment from local people, especially in villages, against construction projects , as they fear changes in demography and consequently changes in their surrounding areas. Since there is no clear cut policy from the government, this leads to a dispute between the local people and the real estate developer. The government should demarcate land for construction, based on different parameters after thorough research and surveys, such as population, land use, infrastructure, accessibility and transport, heritage sites, etc, so that a uniform and gradual landscape is maintained throughout, and no sudden changes or inconvenience is faced by the people.
