Dear Frederick,
I agree with you on this one. Outward migrants still continue to leave Goa
("brain" drain) thus creating a vacuum filled in by
inward migrants not only to provide manpower in the rising tourist trade but in
other areas of work. These inward migrants
need to be housed and with land and property prices rising rapidly a massive
problem is presenting itself to the authorities.
This is further escalated by the continuing rise in those seeking to secure
holiday homes in Goa and their willingness to
contribute to the bribing culture for this.
Therefore I feel the responsibility for the changing make-up and embroidery of
Goa rests collectively with all our community,
those who have stayed in Goa and those who have left.
Many of our community may have left Goa in the past for economic reasons. For
many, especially those who have worked
abroad for many years and are now retired on pensions, these economic reasons
simply do not exist any more but they
have still chosen to live away from Goa and not return to their homeland. Of
course, there may be other reasons that keep
them away like established living/existing in their adopted country, their
home, social lifestyle, being close to their families,
medical care, travel, etc. In some cases, their ancestral property has already
been taken from their hands either by their
extended family or by other means, or their homes are inhabitable after years
of neglect. It is therefore now an easy option
for them to travel down to Goa, stay in an hotel and enjoy themselves at any
time.
There are also instances where others who could consider taking back their
skills to Goa and make a living for themselves
and their families have chosen not to return. Contrary to what you have done,
an excellent example to our community to
show us by returning from abroad (Brazil) it is possible to establish yourself
successfully back into our homeland and way of
life.
Some of our people who have houses or flats in Goa use them just for an annual
two week holiday as a country home, the
rest of the time these properties are shut up and looked after by family or
friends in their village.
Should a change in the law occur and our community who live abroad are not
allowed to buy further land or property in Goa
and further are charged a tax to hold what they already have, it will be
"crunch" time or "decision" time for all NRI Goans.
They can either chose to
1. Return to their homeland and contribute to the local economy
2. Not return to their homeland and still contribute to the local economy (by
way of a nominal tax)
3. Contribute nothing by saying goodbye to their property and land in Goa.
Talking of goodbyes, I am off now to secure my table of fine dining at
MacDonalds. It's my idea of heaven, sipping slowly
on my Moira banana milkshake, enjoying a blissful moment....with a fried Mars
bar from the chippy next door.
Rose Fernandes
Thornton Heath, Surrey, United Kingdom
28 January 2012
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Protect Goa's natural beauty
Support Goa's first Tiger Reserve
Sign the petition at: http://www.goanet.org/petition/petition.php
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
