GOANSPIRIT
it never dies

"What this means is your ‘Honourable’ MLA is entitled to a minimum pension of Rs 50,000 after just one term, while you work your butt off for a minimum of 8 hours per day. Just before Parrikar died, he agreed to increase MLAs salaries and so Rs 13.5 cr of your tax bucks was spent (some would say wasted) on salaries and pensions. Then there are the add-ons and junkets, My question is, do our MLAs past and present deserve their big pay days considering how rich they are?"

"The more things change, the more they remain. And so it is with GIDC and the lie that Goans are preferred for employment in industrial estates. GIDC continues to be corrupt and non-Goans get all lucrative jobs. You'd think MNCs/big players make huge investments but Goan contractors are lucky if they get some tertiary contracts in what are basically assembly line units. Also,It is amazing how Goa’s various rungs of the Mafiosi work in the twilight zone and the power they wield. "

"In these Covid -19 crunch times, The TO Do list for CM Sawant includes scrapping the sheer extravagance of building the 75 mt tall administrative building, postponing IFFI, which is a drain on the Goan tax payer, for 2 years, solving the debilitating issue of GIDC paying Rs 1 lakh per day as interest, taking back the Rs 26 crore owed by Meta Strips and sacking the 30 per cent government employees who own private businesses financed no doubt by their ill-gotten gains."

"Goa is so insignificant although many tourists descend here for the sun, sand and fun that no national news even mentions how it is being affected by Covid -19. And CM Sawant is floundering whereas he was sure of himself about Parrikar's memorial on Miramar beach and allocated Rs 10 crores. Parrikar himself went by the committee that studied construction on Miramar beach and backed off. Sawant is deaf to protests from environmentalists and people who demanded a cancer hospital instead. "

"When it comes to road building, it appears that Goa government is totally at sea. Many times including outside the Dabolim aiport, it seems to be a "mis-planned" activity. It is clear that the BJP government is failing to plan these projects before execution and there is “continuous return to the drawing board to re-visit the design multiple times”. "

"Congress accuses Mauvin of interfering in the MPDA meeting last November to reject the Colour Code Plan by the Navy to protect the funnel zone of aircraft from high-rises. In fact, the court says the MPDA and Panchayat affidavits create the impression that they are interested in protecting structures regardless of aviation safety. The Court has directed the navy to file compliance report on action against constructions in survey No. 60/2 of Chicalim, before 7th September, 2020."

"While anyone who lives in Colva will point out to the polluting hotels/shacks, the consensus of the GSPCB on paper at least is that hotels have contained pollution! Yet shockingly, it found BOD of water samples collected from both upstream and downstream of the Colva creek exceeded permissible levels. Many hotels operated without consent under the Air Act, Water Act and Hazardous Waste Authorisation. No shack had GSPCB consent and all simply disposed ‘wash waste water’ in open land. "

"The BJP government suddenly delisted the Talpona river in Canacona from a list of 11 polluted or partially (stretches) polluted rivers in the third week of January? It claims that ‘interventions’ by the Department of Panchayats (DOP) through ‘solid waste management’ did the trick or, should I be saying conjured up the magic. It's more likely as a result of NGT's March 31 deadline because this government has shown blatant disregard for the environment."

"Wilson Godinho is tied to several low profile companies.There are always names in common under the ‘potential related directors’ list. Another common link is they are mostly in the construction, hospitality and manufacturing business. Kamla Prasad Yadav, the deputy sarpanch of the Chicalim Village Panchayat and a close friend of Mauvin Godinho, is probably the first to be rewarded the much-sort-after membership of MPDA, which is open only to political appointees."

"Please save me your angst, I am not calling for suicides of those affected by no mining and the dip in tourism, just stating the difference between crocodile tears and reality. In plain English, tourism does not help all Goans as the media’s stories tell you and Michael Lobo’s almost daily rant makes it out to be. What I am saying is both the tourism and mining industries in Goa got greedy and dived headlong into the mess both created. Greed for money has taken over. "

"The BJP government does not mind being rebuked by the NGT but will not fall in line. Because fines are paid by your tax money. Another Rs 68 lakhs are due when the case on illegal structures on beaches comes up for hearing on January 21, 2020. EX-CM Manohar Parrikar vetoed setting up a bench in Goa saying it would be a financial constraint and would not have enough work. But since it was set up, the NGT’s Pune bench has passed more than a 100 judgements in Goa-related matters. "

"In the second and final instalment about the web of lies in the EIA of the Nauxim Marina, GS questions whether MPT has a commitment to Goa. AHOY will do what it wants, because Goa is open season for any outsider with big bucks. Kargwal is just a realtor that will plunder Nauxim and take away the fishermen's essence.And Goa, already weighed down by over construction has a callous government which has ignored entreaties to dredge the Sal river but is gung ho about AHOY's plans."