Let Only the Experts Speak on Mopa! A couple of days prior to his death, my friend and neighbor was at my house. I clearly remember asking him, "Mathany, now that you have joined the BJP, what will you say when the issue of Mopa comes up?" "I'll say I'm against it," he answered immediately.
Alina Saldhana, his widow and loving wife, has rightly said that we need to take the debate on Mopa beyond Mathany. What I have written is simply to put on record what he said to me a couple of days prior to his death. I owe this much to him as a friend. Fr Eremito Rebello states in no uncertain terms that Mopa is a massive land scam. His opinion is objective as he cites reports of experts who claim Dabolim will have to shut down if Mopa becomes a reality. Also, the traffic for Mopa will not be enough, so it is not viable. He goes on to cite statistics based on reports by experts which maintain Dabolim is capable of handling the projected air traffic until 2045. Calangute MLA Michael Lobo is of the opinion 4-lane roads are necessary if tourists are to arrive from Mopa to Margao in an hour. From Dabolim to Margao, as of now, tourists can arrive within an hour without our losing any more land. As the Chinese say, if the first step is wrong, all steps go wrong. Anyway, it is time for the experts to speak, and only experts! If people have no expertise in this area, then their opinions are not worth much and cannot be taken seriously. The building of an international airport involves a serious study and cannot be reduced to the frivolous level of a social topic at a cocktail party. Our recent space mission was successful because of the hard work and expertise of our scientists. Without their expertise, the mission would have ended in a tragedy. The same is true for something as complex as a mega international airport. Let the experts speak! In view of Fr Eremito Rebello's statements, can the people of Goa allow the politician-businessmen nexus to decide on this all-important issue simply because there is a fortune to be made in this mega project? While it is true we have voted the BJP to power, and I am a supporter of this political party, the fact is the Mopa airport mega project is not listed in its manifesto. As CM Manohar has stated, a manifesto is an attempt to persuade the voters. As far as Mopa is concerned, there is no question of having tried to persuade the voters. Having said that, I need to add the pressure on our well-intentioned Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar is tremendous. No chief minister, and I emphasize, no chief minister will be spared on this issue! The chief minister wants to go ahead with another international airport in our small state which appears by all accounts to be something the people of Goa do not need at all. As this is not my field of expertise, I will not make any comment on the viability of the airport. CM Parrikar has announced that he will hold meetings to clear the air and shed the apprehension of the people on this matter. CM Parrikar is a man of science and has a respect for facts, and so we can look forward to an objective discussion of the issue. Fr Eremito Rebello need not fear. It is not easy to fight vested interests. Pratap Singh Rane, a chief minister of Goa several times over, and a solid rock of the Congress Party, claims that Mopa is his baby. Some baby, this. Meanwhile, Luizinho Faleiro, another former chief minister of Goa and a steel pillar of the Congress Party has stated that the Congress Party does not want the international airport! He has been chosen by none other than Sonia Gandhi to fight the building of the airport. Mopa Maka Naka is his mantra. He has got the lyric right but what about the tune? Let us see how well he can dance to it. Fr Eremito has said that Luizinho Falero was for Mopa, but now he is convinced that Mopa is not a viable airport and so he has changed his mind. Does Fr Eremito Rebello need to worry? On one occasion CM Manohar Parrikar compared Luizinho Falero's overnight increase in his wealth as meteoritic. Luizinho Falero, for his part, speaks of his mission to bring back the pristine glory of the Congress Party. He is perceived as a corrupt politician by CM Parrikar and most Goans, and so I can't understand how a dirty broom will be able to clean the dirt that is the Congress Party? Couldn't they find a single, clean broom? Donna Alice might say the situation in Goa is becoming curiouser and curiouser. Has a Congress Party ghost writer scripted a scenario which might be full of surprises? Is there another agenda which we Goans do not know about? The view from Japan is full of smoke and mirrors, but is it any more clear for Goans who live in Goa? A tragicomedy, perhaps? Will the main character be a sort of Goan Don Quixote, someone who will blow hot and cold for a while as he perceives the holy crosses to be giants, and then throws in the towel as the battle cannot be won? Is it a script whose plot is designed for the fight against the building of the airport, only to ultimately crash? And, maybe, some time later jump on the bandwagon for the fight for Special Status? Let us see how well Luizinho Falero will dance to the unknown melody! Goans need to get ready for an outlandish and unexpected scenario, as when the BJP Deputy Chief Minister crossed over to the other side, and suddenly found himself as the Chief Minister and head of the Congress Party in Goa. Maybe, this time around, Digamber Kamat will be back as the BJP Chief Minister while CM Parrikar will go to Delhi for a bigger and better role? Fiction can't match real life! There is a growing perception in Goa that the BJP and the Congress Party are one and the same at the top in Delhi. Some disagree; they say it is the BJP-Congress Party while others, the Congress-BJP! All said and done, the greatest tragedy are the farmers who have lost their land unnecessarily, and when and if Mopa is found to be a dubious deal only to make some politicians and their coterie super rich and the project is dumped, I can only hope the farmers who feed us will get back their land which was lost through no fault of their own. If not, we Goans cannot claim to be human. Meanwhile, we need to support Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar who is an unfortunate man caught up in a tragic situation. We need not rush to give him a C-grade report card on governance. He has performed on several fronts well. It is now time for the experts to speak!
