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TRI Continental Film Festival - Dona Paula, Goa, Sep 28 - Oct 2, 2007
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I thank Gilbert for his reponse to my post and would lik to comment as
follows on the points
raised:-
GL: I concede that I have not been following the debate closely. Yet are the
detractors
going after the irrelevant and extraneous arguments? This rather than
concentrating
and refuting the major points of 'alleged benefits' of casinos? Are the
detractors
presenting their own 'biggest reservations' of the project? The casino
debate like
many other debates on Goa (in the past eg. IFFI) should use this period to
build
'safeguards' rather than 'throwing the baby out with the bath water'.
A public debate on the issue is precisely what we, the so-called
detractors (I prefer
the term oppponents) are seeking. Unfortunately in today's Goa, decisions
on vitally
important issues such as the Konkan Railway and Regional Plan 2011 are taken
behind closed
doors by a cabal of politicians without any public discussion or reference
to representative
local self-government institutions such as Village Panhayats and Zilla
Parishads. It is
inconceivable how such a vital enactment such as the R.P.2011 was approved
by the Cabinet
through circulation and without any formal discussion! One wonders what
they discuss
when they do meet - the price of fish, perhaps? As regards providing
safeguards, the less
said the better as the Governement has shown neither the will nor the means
to enforce them
in the past.
GL: This issue to me is irrelevant. First is the principle of having
casinos.
Goa has crossed this threshold by already having one floating as well as
several
land-based casinos in five star hotels. The number and locations of the
casinos
(land-based or floating) is one of supply and demand. Is there any data of
the
existing casinos having significant deleterious social effects?
I am rather shocked at your statement that public policy on any issue
should
be based merely on supply and demand - whose demand and whose supply are
we referring to?
Do we as citizens and major stake-holders permit a free-for-all
exploitation of our
limited natural resources without any concern for the future merely because
there is
a supply and demand?
As regards any data on deleterious social effects, I can personally vouch
for two
young men from well-to-do families who have ruined themselves and their
families
squandering all the family wealth through casino gambling. I am sure that
there must
be many other such cases.
GL: Would it not be nice to quantify the tax revenue, annual licensing
fee
and jobs created'? It would also be nice to quantify the ripple effects of
these casinos - increased tourism, ancillary shopping in Goa, restaurant
business,
taxis and other transportation etc. Do the detractors of the casinos have
alternative
ideas and better plans to generate these revenues and jobs? I think read in
a BBC article,
the annual licensing fee for the Goa floating casino is one million dollars.
It would certainly be nice to have all this data. The trouble is that
our politicians
rush into implementing public policies without bothering to collect any
data. Self-aggrandisement
appears to be their only interest! Similarly, even years after a particular
policy has been in
force, there is no attempt to conduct any survey or collect any data to
evaluate its efficacy.
GL: The biggest social cost of economic advancement is automobiles. Would
the mortality,
disability and other costs of automobiles encourage Goans to do away with
automobile travel?
Another big cost of 'progress' is alcohol consumption. Ditto question? There
are always going
to be some downside to 'progress' and 'change'. Would the detractors of
Goa-based casinos
discourage Goans from working on cruise-ships and hotels where gambling
exists - despite
the presence of a few Goan victims of casino gambling? Some countries,
notably Monaco have
laws banning natives from gambling (in their own casinos). Should detractors
of casinos push
for / support such a 'Monaco-style' anit-gambling law?
This is a rather simplistic view. Promoters of dubious policies will
always claim that those
opposing them are against progress,change or development. The question
to be asked is
for whose benefit is the progress, change and development being promoted.
GL: Nothing beats an informed public. It is for social and moral leaders to
inform and educate
the public in an honest manner. And if the casinos are approved, these
leaders will have to work
harder to educate their followers on taking the good while avoiding the bad.
Goans will
