Lion Roars - 2
April 22-28, 2013Mining doesn’t help GoansThey keep telling us how the tourism
industry is our savior notwithstanding our firm dependence on St Francis
Xavier. They said the same about the mining industry, only we discovered that
some of the biggest gainers were a few of the men who turn out as your duly
elected MLAs, and particularly even those who contested and lost. The
thousands that get the fringe jobs because of the mining industry are largely
migrant workers. Many of the barge owners too are non-Goans or politicians
with deep pockets. And that goes for the barge crew too. Point is the tourism
industry really doesn’t help you and I, the real aam aadmi. In other words, we
the people without the SUVs, pony tails, designer clothes, Page 3 mentions and
that swagger that comes with piles of cash.Point is also, tourism has also
degraded Goa to the worst extent. Only, it has never been recognized as so.
With the exception of perhaps two originally Goan owned 5-star hotels, all the
rest are owned by big chains based outside Goa. If my memory services me
correct, no Goan has built possibly even a single 3-star-upwards hotel in Goa
in the last decade. On the other hand, take the case of the shack owners who
literally have to beg for a license on which the government has put a cap and
which as happened this year, were issued quite late in the day. But when it
comes to licensing hotels, it matters little where you want to build
one.Ordinary stakeholders can’t protest evenIn fact if you are an MLA like
independent Rohan Khaunte it could be a breach of privilege if you protest
outside his office, as come cab drivers found out this month. The Goa Speaker
Rajendra Arlekar called it an attempt to intimidate Khaunte. The first time
MLA invoked the cab drivers wrath when he said in a legislative debate that
taxi drivers were fleecing customers, esapecially tourists. We ask where in
India do cabbies not fleece you? Might we add that in Goa, they are also rude
and bully you on the road. A millionaire businessman (assets: Rs
5,87,89,835/source: Association for Democratic Reforms) Khaunte has perhaps
taken few cab rides in his life, so he wouldn’t know.Neither does tourismNot
really. Here is a case that passes as the best example of both environmental
degradation and that Goans do not get jobs in the hotel industry. The Goan
Real Estate Pvt. Ltd, owners of Hotel Grand Hyatt, were investigated on August
29, 2012 for certain violations in Nashi and Pirabhat in Bambolim. The
investigating agency was the supposedly toothless Coastal Zone Regulating
Authority which issued a typical show cause notice (GCZMA/TIS/BAM/12-13/01/154
dated May 17, 2012). A year later and no action has been taken. Nada.
Goanspirit learns that till date the GCZMA had not even asked them to give a
verbal representation of their wrongdoings.The August (pun intended) inspection
(we have the report) said this: “Illegal filling up of mud and have also dumped
construction material at the site illegally. Dumped mud of approx. 9,000 sq
mts. Illegally constructing a retaining wall of approximately 700 m”. The
inspection report confirmed that the degradation was on “on the HTL (high tide
line) of river Zuari”. What transpired was the GCZMA ordered “stop work at
site with immediate effect.” But no action was taken.Now the GCZMA likes to
appear toothless but that it is not, clearly. It was constituted by the
Ministry of Environment & Forests, Government of India on the direct orders of
the Supreme Court to deal with violations of the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ)
notification. The additional Collector and additional district magistrate in
north and south Goa are the officers responsible for executing its directives.
Read that as “carrying out demolition of unauthorized constructions in order to
effectively tackle the serious problem of volations of CRZ Regulations and the
Environment (Protection) Act, 1986”.According to the CRZ Notification of 2011,
the entire belt of 100 metres from the high tide line (HTL) of the river and
200 metres from the HTL from the sea is designated as the No Development Zone
(NDZ) and hence no construction of any kind is permissible on this belt. Yet
at item no. 9 of the site inspection report ‘Distance of seaward boundary from
river/sea High Tide Line’ – the inspectors said, “On the HTL of River Zuari”.
Clearly, this is a violation because “all
re-construction/construction/development/repair between 200 m to 500 m of the
HTL from the sea and 100 m from the river, require the prior approval of GCZMA
under the CRZ Notification of 2011". It’s crystal clear. Yet the only NDZ
violations that have ever faced the axe in Goa were those committed by
small-timers as happened recently in Canacona and some years ago in Baga. No
big company has so far had even the most blatant infraction demolished. None
whatsoever and never will.Hard evidenceGoanspirit has a list of the 545 people
employed by Goan Hotels & Clubs Pvt Ltd, owners of the Hotel Grand Hyatt,
Bambolim and there are seriously few Goans in the list – less than ten per
cent. The list we have has details of their educational qualifications and
actual addresses. The list is titled ‘workers employed and industrial
trainees’. In a separate list of 33 trainees, there is a huge dearth of Goans
(residents or otherwise) again. We also have their list of 38 “contractors and
contract workmen” and there are two Goans in it. A subsidiary called Rare
Hospitality & Service Pvt. Ltd which outsourced 18 people, hired only one Goan.
It outsourced 11 gardeners through another subsidiary Suraj Gardeners, none of
whom are Goans.
