Dear fellow readers This response is to Message 3 of Goanet Digest, Vol 6, Issue 874 written by Carmen Miranda.
Carmen Miranda wrote: "Many of these people employed by mining are not Goans but this is besides the point." Melvyn Fernandes responds: We are not an insular people, we live and work in a "global" village. Are you suggesting that we now become frogs in a Goan well? Carmen Miranda wrote: "There are alternatives to mining, alternatives that should be explored and encouraged, alternatives we need to bring to Goa, industries that are sustainable, green and long term, as mining is phased out of Goa these industries should be able to absorb most of the mining workforce. It can be done and should be done." Melvyn Fernandes responds: In my message 6, Goanet Digest, Vol 6, Issue 726, I have already explored and encouraged you to use these alternatives that are sustainable, green and long term. As a "green" reminder, I wrote "The Save Goa Campaign UK (name taken from poster on tent at Goan Festival, Cranford) with their financial strength have in their power to bring this mining matter under firm control and stop Goa becoming history. They have the ideal opportunity here to go back to the old days of living in a mud hut with dung flooring, cooking with clay pots and firewood, using their hands to till the soil, etc because by not using products with metal this would result in at least one Goan mine being closed, one village saved and the first firm step to stopping the rape of Goa's hinterland, thus saving it for future generations." ........."Eco villages could be formed, our people could go back to paddy fields, coconut plucking, fishing, milking cows, grinding flour, a completely happy life without metal from Goan mines. No doubt, this would encourage a new form of tourism." You will see from this there will be plenty of work for the redundant mining workforce in these villages. Carmen Miranda wrote: "As for the people who are going to argue that iron ore is needed for India's development and India's steel industry, please hold your horses! The fact is that Goa's iron ore is all exported to China and other countries. Goa's iron ore in fact contributes mostly to China's development, not India's." Melvyn Fernandes responds: China uses this iron ore to the benefit of people on planet earth "to produce medical equipment, fridges, freezers, cookers, irons, plugs and fuse boxes every household item we use has metal components from Goa in them. You will also need to give up electricity (wiring is made from metal) cars, trains and definitely trips to Goa would be a thing of the past as aeroplanes are also made of metal." If anyone has been to Sydney please note that the wealth you see in the city comes from the iron ore around Sydney mined by Chinese companies bringing huge profits to the land owners. Is this the same in Goa? Where is the money going? Needs to be addressed? Carmen Miranda wrote: "These are times to prepare for droughts, floods and famines, times to think of food security and water security for a rapidly growing population." Melvyn Fernandes responds: Why are you thinking about famine, I have every confidence in you leading the way, followed by your supporters, to working in paddy fields, coconut plucking, fishing, milking cows and grinding flour. You will have enough of a bounty harvest to feed all of us and we need to be thankful for it. Carmen Miranda wrote: "I want to see heads roll." Melvyn Fernandes responds: Is this coming from a "sorpotel" mentality? Or from peasant thinking? You may be returning back to live the way our ancestors lived, but from memory, they used the "coito" to break open coconuts to give us a refreshing cup of coconut juice, not to chop off our heads! Melvyn Fernandes (non graduate) Thornton Heath, Surrey, United Kingdom 13 September 2011 [email protected]
