<The real fact is that South Goa Tourism Industry > will > dry up once Mopa comes up, and the people in S. Goa > in > the industry directly and indirectly will became > paupers! ....Not only busines in N. Goa but Pernem and Sindhudurg > specially will benefit strongly to the wholesale > detriment of persons who have invested so much in > the > industry in South Goa....That is why we must develop Dabolim on a war footing > and get the Navy out of there TOMORROW and send them > to 'Sea Bird' which is what was planned and designed > for the Navy!!...Reform should and > must mean, getting the Navy out of Dabolim; they > already have 'Sea Bird' close by! > And Dabolim is already here; it's not that Goa does > not have an Airport, is it? Dabolim can be developed > at a fifth of what it would cost to build Mopa, and > the Navy would also benefit by having all their > training facilities and Naval Dockyard at the one > place at 'Sea Bird' in Karwar. This is ECONOMY all > round and Convenience all round....Is it so hard for the Navy to give up on Goan girls/ > women to attend their Annual Navy Day Dinner Dance > in > December? They could 'bus' them, Goan men and women > to > Karwar and still have the good Social Life that Goa > and Goans are famous for....VIVA GOA! VIVA DABOLIM! Mop Up MOPA, for the better > future of All of GOA! > > Nasci Caldeira > (Lover of Goa and Good Things Indian).>
That in a nutshell is the rejoinder to the NT Editorial. My response: 1. This may be the best deal Goa can get: Dabolim continues as before and Mopa goes ahead. 2. The South Goa hoteliers lobby (HASG) has not expressed any problem with the Navy at Dabolim except on two counts: (a) part with 100 acres instead of the 35 allotted to AAI at present and (b) consolidate the runway crossings at one point instead of the present two. HASG. It has of course also asked the Navy to shift "some" (unspecified) activities to Karwar. But it has given a clean chit to slot guzzling flight training activities! So which naval activities is HASG talking about? 3. The HASG's main problem is with "competition". Are they in the hotel business or in the business of making a quick buck? They should let the people of Goa know. Cheers.
