Dears, If you watch the HCN cable network at 10 A.M. today [or 9 P.M. on Monday night] You will hear me say, "We are in the state of Goa .....and Goa is in a state of confusion." And I was only talking about the traffic chaos before the Goa Police thought of playing "Chor Pulis" games on 12 December, 2008 at dusk and made it hell!!!
The Chief Minister of Goa, Mr. Digamber Kamat, is now all confused about his friend .... and diehard supporter after Manohar Parrikar regime imprisoned him overnight when he came to the rescue of the "women in red" at Baina in 2004 ...Mr. Datta Damodar Naik of Millenium Bakers/Monginis, Lok Shakti, Nitoll Jinn, Margao First or Commonwealth Developers or just CD [No marks for guessing the right answer, any or all choices are correct], who is also the President of Goa Chamber of Housing Industry [GCHI] and Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India [CREDAI]. With so many hats on this guy's head ...and no time or inclination to look at its own records ..... the TCP Dept. [headed by the CM in his capacity as the Minister for TCP since the very beginning of his term in June 2007] has misguided the CM to state in a quarter page advertisement in the local newspapers as well as Times of India [Goa Edition] today 14 December, 2008, that the CONFEDERATION OF OF REAL ESTATE DEVELOPERS ASSOCIATION OF INDIA or CREDAI was invited and was a member of the TASK FORCE on RP 2021. I can state with all honesty and sincerity ...basic things that the Government of Goa seems to sorely lack these days .... that CREDAI was not a part of the TASK FORCE on RP 2021. The Official Gazette notification of 04 October, 2007 and 26 February, 2008 both state that Datta Damodar Naik represents the GCHI [not CREDAI]. The INTERIM REPORT of Task Force [the only document of the Task Force signed by the Convener of the Goa Bachao Abhiyan.... contrary to the recorded resolution of the GBA Core Group in mid-March, 2008, that it would peruse the minutes of the Task Force and the draft Interim Report BEFORE it was signed by its Convener]issued in April, 2008 bears the signature of Datta Damodar Naik as the representative of GCHI. I have confirmed from an official copy of the DRAFT REGIONAL PLAN 2021 that the DRP also bears the signature of Datta Damodar Naik as representative of GCHI [ and not CREDAI]. In short and in layman's language, the Chief Minister has stated an untruth. It simply put, he is telling us a white lie! It is obvious from the quarter page advertisements of the "RPG 2021 Division" or the Town & Country Planning Dept., Government of Goa yesterday and alongside the signed letter of CM today, where the LIE originates. The phone number listed in the advertisement 91-832-2437352 is of the TCP Dept. at Patto Plaza and connected to Mr. Morad Ahmed, Chief Town Planner. Will the CTP's head roll for misleading the CM and/or will the CM apologise owning responsibility for the blatant lie? The man designated as "Representative of the'RPG 2021 Division' in the TLTT" for the ELEVEN Taluka Level Technical Teams is Deputy Town Planner, Mr. Vinod Kumar [not to be confused for Mr. Vinod Kumar from MAITHRI who was the Resource Person at the GBA facilitated interaction, though they have identical names]. The "RPG 2021 Division" Vinod Kumar is available on Mobile +91-9423056571 and land line 91-832-2437353 [during office hours]. Please feel free to call him up and tell him what you think. He is afterall a "Public Servant" paid from the taxes you and I pay when we buy or sell anything ...or even earn a living. These guys seem to be paid to tell lies to the ones who pay their salary. If you want to complain to the big boss himself, Mr.Digamber Kamat is available at +91-9822129399 and his office number at the Secretariat is 91-832-2419841. The "RPG 2021 Division" has a multiple email ID option, none of them linked to the NIC Net or any Government server. 1. [email protected] as per advt of 13 December, 2008 2. [email protected] as per advt of 14 December, 2008 3. [email protected]* as per advt of mid-October, 2007 * Accessed by Mr. S. T. Puttaraju in year 2007 It may be best to send your emails to all THREE gmail IDs .... just to let the TCP know that it is being watched, lest we have another "Aldeia de Goa"-type episode where all the files go mysteriously "Missing". The case is currently in the Supreme Court, the files [with approved plans and notings and sanads] are not! Mog asundi Miguel PS The "morning after" Valentine's Day date that the TCP and CM have announced in the newspaper advertisements is allegedly not yet in the Official Gazette notifiction required under the law. It could well be like the letter of the CM [allegedly without Cabinet endorsement]dated 22 November, 2007 to the GoI Minister of HRD stating that the Goa state has no objection to Goa University being upgraded to a Central Univeristy. The undated letter of the CM [obviously aimed at the gullible Christians as it begins with "Season's Greetings" although we are in Advent!] is from an I-specialist ...in the first person singular. It does not even use the customery "My Government" or the ambiguous "We". ................................................................... Circular on roads prospective: TCP HERALD REPORTER HERALD REPORTER MARGAO, DEC 13 Chief Town Planner Murad Ahmed has said the TCP circular issued by the department in respect of the roads before granting construction license has no retrospective effect and will act as a guideline for the panchayats vis-à-vis new projects. Replying to a question whether the circular has a retrospective effect and will cover the construction plans approved by panchayat bodies on the basis of proposed roads, Ahmed said the circular will have only prospective effect and will not affect the plans approved before the circular came into effect. Testing time ahead for realty business Panchayats want 80% FAR norm reduced HERALD REPORTER MARGAO, DEC 13 Real estate developers and builders are maintaining a close watch on the ongoing process at the grassroots level vis-à-vis the draft Regional Plan 2021 with many a village panchayat voicing opposition to the provision of 80 floor area ratio (FAR) for building projects. Though the actual process of lodging objections and suggestions is yet to kick off, opposition to the 80 per cent floor area ratio has echoed in many a gram sabha meeting held around Salcete’s rural countryside to constitute the Committee for the RP 2021. That people at the gram sabha want the FAR to be reduced to 60 per cent is evident by the demands pouring in the meetings since the last fortnight. A proposal to give Navelim a VP 1 status came in for opposition at the meeting held to constitute the committee. Instead, the gram sabha members have demanded that the FAR be reduced to 60 for Navelim village. Similar sentiments were echoed at an interaction with Colva villagers had with Town and Country Planning officials led by Senior Town Planner, Puttaraju. Locals as well as other builders have invested crores of rupees in prime real estate in Salcete, but could not develop the land in view of stiff opposition by anti-mega housing activists. Be it the Mumbai-based Rahejas in Carmona or Delhi based real estate developers, they have been compelled to keep their projects on hold for the moment, anticipating that the ongoing opposition would melt down in the days ahead. That the Goa Bachao Abhiyan has demanded that the government accept the recommendations made at the gram sabha vis-à-vis the Regional Plan 2021 is another clear indication that people will demand that their aspirations reflect in the plan. Says Chief Town Planner, Morad Ahmed: “The process to formulate the Regional Plan is in the crucial stage. Let the people make their suggestions and objections to the draft plan. The government will extend the period of filing objections and suggestions”. Asked specifically on the demand raised in some villages to restrict the FAR to 60 per cent and whether the same would be binding on the government, the chief town planner said “Why not. The people are participating in the planning process and the government will respect the sentiments of the people”. Construction firms penalised Rs 7 lakh fine collected HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, DEC 13 The State Government this year collected around Rs 7.06 lakh as fine from construction firms for violating provisions of the Goa Public Health Act. The total fine collected this year has been slightly more than the last year’s collection and indicates that players in the construction business are yet to consider provisions of the Goa Public Health Act, seriously. The highest amount of fine was collected from constructions sites of Candolim (Rs 1.11 lakh) followed by Rs 80,350 from coastal belt of Siolim. (see box below) Thanks to the reliance of real estate developers on migrant labour – Goa has seen considerable increase in vector borne diseases (VBD) in the last few years with Malaria topping the list. Between January-November 368541 blood slides were collected, of which 9163 cases were detected positive, told our sources however adding that 85 per cent of the cases reported were of migrant labourers. In 2007, health centers across the State collected fine amounting to Rs 5.19 lakh from various construction sites. The Goa Public Health Act mandates that construction houses have to undertake anti-larval measurers as construction sites turn into mosquito breeding grounds. The Act empowers the health officers to impose a fine of Rs 1000 per head if a migrant labourer in the construction site is caught without a health card. Also, he has powers to slap a fine of Rs 500 per day if sanitation nuisance found at the construction site or the party caught breaching other provisions of Goa Public Health Act. The construction firms have to provide total sanitation facilities to their labourers, however, according to our sources not all adhere to the rule book. No wonder the number of Malaria cases have risen every year despite the best efforts of the health department. In the last eleven months, the killer mosquito has claimed 20 persons in the State. Sources said that between January to November this year, 20 deaths were reportedly caused due to malaria as against ten in the year 2007. However, according to the health department sources, of the 20 deaths reported this year, in ten cases, malaria was the contributory factor and the persons who died, also suffered from other diseases such as jaundice, heart ailments etc. Candolim: Rs 1,11,000 Panjim: Rs 79,050 Margao: Rs 47,000 Siolim: Rs 80,350 Aldona: Rs 32,310 Mapusa: Rs 24,500 --- On Sun, 14/12/08, Miguel Braganza <[email protected]> wrote: > From: Miguel Braganza <[email protected]> > Subject: [Goanet] DRP2021: Your Opportunity to Act-By Blaise Costabir > To: "Goanet" <[email protected]> > Date: Sunday, 14 December, 2008, 12:21 AM > Dear Jen, > Blaise officially represented GCCI for part of the term of the Task > Force [TF] on RP 2021. How many meetings/sittings he atended > and for what period of the three-days long, boring sittings, > I do not know. He does not state that either. The minutes of > the Task Force up to 31 March, 2008, records the attendance > at each sitting, but not even that is day wise. > Blaise may well wake up to > learn that he has been cooking > his own goose ...unawares! > Miguel > > Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2008 21:54:34 -0800 (PST) > From: Jen Lewis <[email protected]> > Message-ID: <[email protected]> > > DRP2021: Your Opportunity to Act > By Blaise Costabir(received by email) >> TRANSPERANCY FOR AAM ADMI. > The Draft RP 2021 also has not converted a square inch of > land. RP: Planned, sustainable development. Awake dear friend, you have a lot at > stake YOUR FUTURE. > > *~Jen > > ====================================================================== Get rid of Add-Ons in your email ID get [email protected]. Sign up now! http://in.promos.yahoo.com/address
