Tiracol Project is a Cruel Joke on Villagers
When the Congress Party was in the seat of power in Goa and people from other states were flocking to Goa, then CM Manohar Parrikar observed intelligently how it would be possible to stop the inflow of people from outside the state with the right policies. Today, unfortunately, the BJP government's policies are on the same track as the Congress Party and are derailing the local economy and Goan village communities. Sad but true! Goan villagers need to approach Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar and former chief minister of Goa and ask him to use his influence to stop the BJP government in Goa from promoting policies of little or no benefit to the local people. Think local, not destroy local! The Goa government must end all anti-Goan village community projects, must end the uprooting of Goan village community life, otherwise it will be the end of the Goan village community in Goa. We need to discuss this issue seriously with our elected MLAs to know on which side of the fence they are squatting! We have to know our friends from our foes. A lack of commitment surely will cast a suspicious eye on them. Either they are for Goan interests or they are not! What, then, is an anti-Goan community project? The Tiracol hotel and golf course project is a good example which instantly pops up in a Goan's mind as it is not only uprooting the villagers lifestyle but also destroying the village. The government is forcing the villagers to go the same way; way down the drain as the original inhabitants of Mumbai! All Goans should support the villagers who are against the hotel and golf course, for if we do nothing about it then it will be first Tiracol followed next by other villages in Goa. Does Tiracol village really need a 76 crore bridge for only 40 families? Newspaper reporters have been asking this question for weeks now. And, as there is already a bridge, the people in Tiracol and the whole of Goa too are having a hard time making any sense of this project. If a small community needs an extra bridge worth 76 crore, how much will the government have to spend on a community of 3000, 4000 or 5000 people? How can the Goa government justify the cost of an extra bridge which does not appear necessary at all, even as the Goan economy is in the doldrums and the government does not have enough money to fund several projects? Why does the government not spend a few crores of rupees on home-stay programs in Tiracol so the local people can benefit from tourism and create jobs and additional incomes for the villagers without destroying the village and making villagers aliens in their own village? Why not self-reliant community development and preservation of the village? Why do everything for big business and everyone except the villagers? Besides, environmental issues this project is going to emasculate the villagers, economically and culturally, reducing them to a once-upon-a-time community. Is it possible for the Goa government to show more cruelty to Goans, their own community members, than this? appeared in oHeraldo Dec 21
