Food Park At Canaguinim UGDP threatens stir for Special Status
On Herald of 9th June 2009 under the heading "UGDP threatens stir for Special Status" the ugly monster called Food Park has reared it's ugly head all over again and I am sure it's not going to go away. It's looks the fish called Chandrakant Kavleker has already swallowed the bait along with the hook, line and sinker of the investors and there is nothing he can do about it but move and tag along as they tug him. Food-park and Auxiliary Services project at Naqueri, is now presented with a chocolate coating with a few nuts sprinkled around for flavour and presented as Industrial Development zone by the chairman of IDC and the present ruling party MLA Mr. Chandrakant Kavlekar from Quepem. A change in name does not make a crow, a dove or a swan. In the last week of May a few of our villagers along with the Parish Priest of Canaguinim Rev. Fr, Henry D' Souza, had a meeting with Mr. Kavlekar over the proposed development plans for our area. It was nice of Mr. Kavlekar to give us his time and patience for about two hours, in the midst of his very busy schedule, he did talk in length of his achievements in the last few years in the form of the number of projects he started in Quepem "proper" but as soon as we let the cat out of the bag on the Food park issue he was on the defensive and said the food park was scrapped and in it's place we would have non-polluting industries, when we asked to give more details he was unable to do so, it was at this time that Rev. Fr. Henry asked him the purpose of acquiring more than the required land for the industrial development zone as he called it then, he was vague in his answer, he also had no answer when asked what provisions where made for housing, for people in the area who are already out growing their restricted village areas. He said that people of the area would benefit through the Industrial Zone as they will get direct access to water from the Selaulim dam and direct underground cable supply of electricity from Xelpem. I was a bit amused as the people of south Goa are provided water from the Selaulim Dam and is it enough ? Certainly not, so how can it help the local people ? Secondly, if Xelpem has the capacity to light up the whole of south Goa why are we seeing bulbs like fireflies in our homes as we have no enough power to light up the tubes ? We also asked him to establish his confidence in us by first getting a good number of locals and Goans in ONGC which has not employed any Goans nor locals since in commencement of activities at Betul-Canaguinim, some fifteen years a go and how can we believe Goans and locals will be employed at the IDZ, nor was he able to give us an affirmation on the salary structure at the IDZ that would make Goans work and survive there. With all the scams and the corruption in the Government, people have lost faith in our Government and in order to get the faith of the people back, the government has to first have, a very transparent system in place, open debates should be held and the blue print of projects shown and explained to the people, the employment exchange too has to be a transparent body with online access, vacancies as well filled in vacancies displayed with details so that there is no hanky-panky around. The most important thing is, why is the Government forcing on the people what the people do not want ? The obvious question being asked by most is, how much is being offered to the politicians to force the unwanted on to the people ? The question most certainly has a very big affirmative answer and the people know it but certainly tend to forget it during elections. From RTI and some realiable sources it's been found out that the locals were paid a mere 15 - 20 Rs per sq mtr, whereas IDC has sold some of the land acquired for Food Park for as much as 150 - 175 Rs per sq mtr when the market price at Canaguinim is about 800 per sq mtr, so what's exactly going on ? Why is our Government robbing the poor and feeding the rich ? If at all some one has to benefit from such deals, it's the locals and the local land owner. It's been also found out that the land has been sold to the same food park owners. So why is Mr. Kavleker trying to mislead the local people of Canaguinim, Betul and Naqueri, why on earth will any one go to such length to disguise, unless of course, that he has indeed swallowed the bait along with the hook line and sinker of the investors . The people of Naqueri, Kanaguinim and Betul reject the Food Park Proposal in it's original form or in it's silver wrapping in the form of IDZ. Freddy Agnelo Fernandes -------------------------------------------------------- The content of this electronic communication is intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed and any others who are specifically authorized to receive it. It may contain confidential or legally privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or otherwise placing reliance on the contents of this information is prohibited and may be unlawful in certain legal jurisdictions. If you have received this communication in error please notify the sender immediately by responding to this email and then delete it from your system. -------------------------------------------------------- ______________________________________________________________________ This email has been scanned by the MessageLabs Email Security System. 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