GFDO PRESS NOTE - October 10, 2015 GFDO said that by stripping Alina Saldanha of her Environment and Forests portfolio, the BJP government had demonstrated its clear intention to remove every impediment on its road to meeting its long term agenda of selling off Goa and Goan interests to favoured corporate lobbies. This of course, is hardly surprising in a Government that is prepared to even sacrifice citizens’ rights and the basic fabric of our unity and that is enshrined in the Indian Constitution, by changing laws. Alarm bells should ring when a government even contemplates an Act that blesses illegalities with the sanction of the law. GFDO demanded to know what were the specific issues thrown up by the performance audit of cabinet ministers conducted by Parsekar and Parrikar, that had led to the decision to divest Alina Saldanha of her critical Environment and Forests portfolio. The state government should be transparent in revealing where Alina Saldanha has failed the people of Goa. Was she the most corrupt and inefficient Minister in the Cabinet for which she was stripped of her ministry? Or was it her refusal to permit the government to bulldoze its ‘marina’ agenda? Or her staunch protection of forests and buffer zones against the dubious plans of the government/corporate nexus to execute yet another of its famous U turns and expand the scope and the ravages of mining activity in Goa which ironically Parrikar himself was a prime key player in stopping?
When evaluating the performance of the various cabinet ministers, what was the specific quality in Alina Saldanha’s performance that did not match up to the standards set by the Parsekar government? The government needs to explain for example in what way PWD Minister Sudin Dhavlikar’s performance outshone Alina Saldanha’s functioning in terms of honesty, efficiency and commitment. Surely any logical Chief Minister would agree that evaluation of performance in a Cabinet is relative and not an absolute. So the people of Goa need to know if Alina Saldanha violated any rules in her functioning, or if there was a taint of corruption and scandal as compared to other Ministers of CM Parsekar’s cabinet. It is true that the people of Goa had high hopes that Alina Saldanha would take a firm public stand on important issues like Tiracol, Carmona, Mopa etc. However, despite the intense pressure under which she was working, it is obvious that she still managed to function as a roadblock to the smooth implementation of the Government’s destructive agenda which has violated every promise made by Matanhy to the Goan electorate. GFDO calls upon Goans to save Goa by giving this U turn, anti people government a fitting reply in the 2017 elections. Until then, all Goans should remain extremely vigilant, particularly in respect to the destruction of the environment in their villages. The people should firmly stand against any project approved by incoming Environment Minister Rajendra Arlekar which will pose a threat to the biodiversity ecological well being of the village. GFDO also urges Alina Saldanha to at least now, join the people of Goa in their struggle to save the state from complete and utter destruction at the hands of her BJP government. Fr. Eremito Rebelo Convenor
