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16-18, May 2008 http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/2008-May/073789.html --------------------------------------------------------------------------- > From: Carvalho <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Re: [Goanet] "Goa has become a Toilet" > FN dearest, > > I think we are all getting hot under the collar for no > reason at all. Let me clear a few things. Neither > Eddie nor I came up with the subject line for this > post. It was lifted from a letter written by a Brit. So, as a first step, let's change it, eh? > The only point being made here, atleast by me, is: > (a) Once a sale has gone through legally, how can the > government rescind it? There appears to be a lot of confusion about the various issues involved here. The problem is precisely that things are not happening as per law and procedure. As to cases of foreigners buying property, if they have complied with FEMA and not set up shell companies to buy property, then there should be no problem. But regarding 'development' in villages, things are not proceeding as per law and procedure. In each of the cases that are being opposed, there are many irregularities. First, when there are specific Gram Sabha resolutions that projects above a certain limit should be brought before the Gram Sabha (as there have been in Aldona and Benaulim, for example), by what right is the Panchayat giving NOCs unilaterally? Why are Panchayats in such a tearing hurry to give NOCs without proper procedures? Why is there a frantic spate of conversions before the new Regional Plan comes into force? These conversions are taking place under the Regional Plan 2001, an outdated document. Builders are using money power to fudge plans and then not comply with regulations. They build first, and then get things regularised afterwards. When there are many irregularities, files conveniently get 'lost', as in the case of Aldeia da Goa. I won't go into all the details, as they have been discussed earlier, but there is clearly an unholy nexus between the politicians and the builders/developers. And this is placing unbearable strains on local resources and the environment. It is this that people are opposing. Selma, you have introduced red herrings like whether Gram Sabha permission is required before a pipeline is laid. Nobody has raised issues about such things. The fact remains that the kind of development that is going on is anti-people and people are resorting to whatever means they have to oppose it. The government is supposed to represent the will of the people. But at all levels, from the Panchayat to the state to the centre, they ignore the will of the people once they are elected. As Manohar Parrikar once infamously said in response to protests against IFFI, if people don't like what I am doing, they can vote me out in the next election (he is singing a different tune now that he is in the opposition, but he will revert as soon as he is in power again). It is this understanding of democracy which all our politicians share that is at the root of our problems. -- Question everything -- Karl Marx