"Building A Better Goa" SYMPOSIUM ON 24th MAY 2008

At the symposium "Building A Better Goa" organised jointly by Goa
Sudharop (GS) and Council for Social Justice and Peace (CSJP) held
recently at Caritas Hall, Panaji, eminent citizens and committed
social activists elaborated on solutions to meet the huge challenges
that the Goa of today faces. GS volunteer, Carmen Martins, who
compered the function, spoke of how Goa is today imperiled and that
rather than merely dressing the surface wounds, we need to look deeper
to heal those wounds.

In his welcome address, Ibonio D'Souza, Goa Sudharop's local
representative, said that the purpose of the symposium was to focus
attention on the mounting popular resistance across Goan villages to
unplanned mega projects, mining operations and other destructive
schemes and to press for the devolution of constitutional powers to
the panchayats. Explaining that this awakening is the result of the
hard work of many courageous Niz Goenkars, Mr. D'Souza said that
rather than fritter away this golden opportunity, we also have a
responsibility to educate, inspire, sustain and guide the movement to
achieve its desired goals.

Moderating the session, Averthanus D'Souza of the CSJP explained that
we citizens need to "share our ideas, feelings and convictions". He
touched upon the growing groundswell of action seen today where
citizens in "village after village and Gram Sabha after Gram Sabha are
demanding their rights to be heard and the right to determine their
own future".

In his talk on the Right to Information Act (RTI) and filing of Public
Interest Litigation's (PIL's), Engr. Rajan Parrikar shared his
experiences with the audience, stating that with the type of resources
that Panaji city has, its citizens could enjoy a quality of life
equivalent to world class standards. Instead, the city is today in a
state of decay. He explained how, upon his return from abroad, he was
rather disturbed that Panaji was becoming almost an "outdoor toilet".
Citing instances of open-air defecation and urination especially along
the Campal promenade, as well as gambling and encroachment of public
spaces like the Panaji Municipal garden by vagrants, he spoke of how
after exhausting all avenues, he finally wrote to the courts enclosing
some photographs. His letter was converted into a PIL, and following
some hearings, an order has recently been issued appointing an
enforcement squad to prevent such happenings. Further, describing the
basic format of an RTI application, he explained how he had used the
RTI to obtain details of several suspect construction sites, on going
through which the prima facie evidence seemed to suggest fraud on a
massive scale. He said that more of the citizenry should raise their
voices and that what is absolutely necessary now is a wellspring of
people's movement and a freeze on all constructions. He also explained
how we need to be continually vigilant since our so-called
representatives are in the habit of waiting for the storm to subside
and then going back to their old ways.

Social activist Pravin Sabnis spoke on the topic "Mobilizing People's
Power", explaining that people's movements generally start when people
realise that the problems have reached their own doorstep. When people
with different competencies participate and when there is solidarity
across the table with people working together as a team, People's
Power becomes far more effective. Mr. Sabnis also touched upon other
important aspects like public meetings and support, audio-visual
presentations, effective slogans, use of available technology, direct
contact with village groups, women power, and media collaboration.
Ending his presentation with a powerful visual, he likened Goa to a
beautiful deer that is being attacked by a canine or a leopard, saying
that it is for us the people to outrun that leopard and save the deer
that is our own Goa.

Speaking on the "Winds of change across Goa's villages", Patricia
Pinto shared her personal experiences and said that the present
uprising seen all over is a positive sign and that apart from the RTI,
the best thing to have happened to Goa was the Regional Plan 2011 when
people realised what was happening. She explained how the decline had
started way back around 1988, though hardly any one was aware then of
what was going on. Fortunately a small spark was kindled in the form
of a few people who after realising what was going on, decided to do
something about it, else Goa would have been slowly and silently
destroyed. In a rejoinder to the Chief Minister's recent remarks that
"People should not oppose legally approved projects" Patricia, citing
a couple of examples of questionable ongoing projects, asked "Are all
these projects approved properly or are they illegally illegal?" She
ended by saying that "the bubble has now burst" and that we need to
come out onto the streets till we are sure that the government is
going to govern properly.

Soter D'Souza, a committed activist with first hand in-depth knowledge
of  panchayat functioning, delivered a forceful and effective talk on
the "Panchayati Raj and the role of Gram Sabhas", saying that
Panchayati Raj is all about equitable and sustainable development,
which involves a mutual respect and sharing between villages.
Elucidating further on the different schedules and amendments, he said
that the "entire democracy in the country changed in 1992 with the
passing of the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments. Although 15
years later, local bodies continue to be strangulated by
opportunistic, political and economic forces, fortunately, they just
refuse to let go". Talking of the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Act,
Mr. D'Souza said that "over the last 15 years the Government has very
cunningly kept certain powers away from the people" and that the
outdated TCP Act has been the cause of a lot of the present problems.
The TCP Act was formulated in 1975, much before the amendments came
into being. This same TCP Act is still being implemented without
incorporating the amendments, and this is being exploited to the
maximum possible by the real estate brigade. However, the growing
restlessness seen during the past 2-3 years in the villages has
disturbed our politicians, builders and other vested
interests. Builders have even termed this uprising as an anarchy, but
all this is surely a ray of hope for the future.

A lively question-answer session followed, when several members of the
audience asked questions and requested clarifications especially
regarding problems being faced by them on related issues. The
discussions were then summarised by Mr. Averthanus D'Souza, who also
said that we need to get rid of political interference in the
functioning of our Government departments, remove dysfunctional bodies
and that the people need to be consulted before major decisions are
taken. Proposing the Vote of Thanks, Fr. Maverick of the CSJP also
informed about a forthcoming meeting at Calangute, adding that our struggles should not be in isolation, but that we need to be united and show solidarity in our bid to preserve our land.

REV. FR. MAVERICK FERNANDES, EXECUTIVE SECRETARY OF THE COUNCIL FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE AND PEACE, MR. AVERTHAN D’SOUZA, MRS. PATRICIA PINTO, MR. SOTER D’SOUZA, MR. RAJAN PARRIKAR, MR. PRAVIN SABNIS, HONOURED GUESTS, MEDIA REPRESENTATIVES AND OTHERS.

ON BEHALF OF GOA SUDHAROP COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INC. USA. AND COUNCIL FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE AND PEACE, GOA,  I AM IMMENSELY PLEASED TO HEARTILY WELCOME YOU TO THIS SYMPOSIUM “BUILDING A BETTER GOA” JOINTLY HOSTED BY OUR TWO ORGANISATIONS. AS YOU PERHAPS AWARE, GOA SUDHAROP IS A GOAN DIASPORA VOLUNTEER ORGANISATION WORKING FOR BETTERMENT OF GOA AND GOANS WORLDWIDE OVER A DECADE NOW.

AND, COUNCIL FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE AND PEACE, GOA IS 

 A FRONTLINE ORGANISATION  IMPRESSIVELY ACTIVE FOR THE CAUSE OF SOCIAL JUSTICE AND GOOD GOVERNANCE IN GOA.  THE SOLE PURPOSE OF THIS SYMPOSIUM IS TO FOCUS ATTENTION ON TO THE MOUNTING POPULAR RESISTANCE ACROSS GOAN VILLAGES AGAINST MEGA PROJECTS, INDISCRIMINATE MINING OPERATIONS, INDUSTRIAL POLLUTION AND OTHER DESTRUCTIVE PROJECTS DETRIMENTAL TO THE ECONOMY, WELFARE AND FREEDOM OF GOANS, AS ALSO TO PRESS FOR DEVOLUTION OF CONSTITUTIONAL POWERS TO PANCHAYATS. WE INDEED APPRECIATE YOUR GESTURE OF SOLIDARITY BY SPECIALLY BEING HERE TODAY.

MOST GOANS, AGREE, THAT THESE ARE UNPRECENDENTED HISTORY-MAKING WINDS OF CHANGE THAT ARE SWEEPING OUR LAND TODAY. NO DOUBT, THIS AWAKENING IS THE RESULT OF THE COURAGEOUS HARD WORK OF THE MANY NIZ GOEMKARS, SOME PRESENT AND MANY OTHERS NOT PRESENT HERE. LET’S  PROUDLY SALUTE  AND THANK THEM ALL.  IN FACT, THIS MASS AWAKENING IS, IN OTHER WORDS, A “PEOPLE’S POWER”; A POWER WITH UNLIMITED POTENTIAL – POTENTIAL TO CHANGE EVERYTHING THAT DESTROYS OUR ECONOMY, IDENTITY, CULTURE, AND UNIQUE BEAUTY OF THIS ANCIENT LAND,  AS ALSO  SET OURSELVES FREE FROM THE DEMONIC  MAFIAS OF ALL HUES THAT HAVE INVADED THIS LAND.

HOWEVER, IN ORDER NOT TO COMPLACENTLY FRITER AWAY THIS GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY, IT BECOMES THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE ELITE CLASS TO PASSIONATELY EDUCATE, INSPIRE, SUSTAIN AND GUIDE THIS MOVEMENT TO ACHIEVE ITS DESTINED GOAL OF USHERING IN A TRUE DEMOCRACY AND AN EGALATARIAN SOCIETY.

WE HAVE WITH US HERE SOME OF OUR AUDACIOUS, COMPETENT AND COMMITTED SOCIAL ACTIVISTS WHOSE SELFLESS WORK IS KNOWN TO MOST GOANS. THEY WILL MAKE THEIR STUDIED PRESENTATIONS WITH A VIEW TO ENLIGHTEN US MORE ON THE ISSUES THAT ARE AT STAKE, AND ALSO HOW WE SHOULD IDENTIFY WITH, AND SUPPORT THE ONGOING MOVEMENT FOR SCRAPPING IMMEDIATELY ALL THE  CURRENT AND PLANNED DESTRUCTIVE PROJECTS, AS ALSO WORK TOWARDS ESTABLISHING FOR THE MUCH NEEDED GOOD GOVERNANCE IN OUR STATE.

WITH THAT, GOEMKAR BHAVANO, I ONCE AGAIN SAY TO YOU: A WARM WELCOME TO THIS SYMPOSIUM SPECIALLY HOSTED FOR THE LOVE OF GOA WE ALL CHERISH SO MUCH! THANK YOU.

IBONIO M.B. D’SOUZA