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Goanet mourns the passing of Jorge de Abreu Noronha in Portugal - Nov 27/07 http://tinyurl.com/2dk2bl http://tinyurl.com/29kpdx --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Filomena Giese wrote: "Tony should be more concerned that it is not Goans who are buying up and fixing heritage houses for such great investment deals." Most certainly, Not only I but also any right thinking Goan should be concerned about non-Goans buying up the neighbourhood and all available real estate in sight. But then there are many reasons for this. One needs to look into the past. Goa has always been a favourite port of call for many a people. It started in ancient days when the Aryans, Phoenicians, Arabs, Portuguese, Dutch, Moghuls and now laterly all kinds of people who have and are still visiting Goa. Many of these settled down in Goa, while some of them conquered her. Then came the waves of migration of ur own people to the Middle East, Africa and later on the Western World. This left a vacuum (nature abhorrs a vacuum) and resulted in migration from Maharashtra, Karnataka & other States of the Union. Hence over the years, Goa has proved to be an irresistable magnet. Financially, too, Goa is also an interesting proposition. With the tourist and building booms, and the upswing in the economy, People with black money find it easy to buy up real estate in Goa. I was once present with a delegation that met Mr. Ramakant Khalap, the then Deputy CM in Churchill Alemao's Cabinet. We were lobing forsome land to put up a camping centre for scouts and gudes. He point blankly told us that we would have to buy it. When we complained about the high rates, he told us (at that time) that prime property in Goa was Rs. 1000/- per sq. m., but in places like Bombay or Delhi it was the same amount per sq. ft. (i.e. 10 times more!), so what were we grumbling about? Again it is the nexus between politicians and the black money holders that makes these things happen. -- Tony de Sa Ph: +91 832 2470148 E: [EMAIL PROTECTED] M: +91 9975 162 897