AND NOW TO FIX POTHOLES!

JETPATCHER MACHINE ANYONE? PWD Minister Nilesh Cabral launched a Jetpatcher machine to help fix potholes faster in Taleigao at a function held on July 6, 2022. Speaking on the occasion the minister shared that this machine is used not only in India but across the globe to fill up potholes. Every year the people face a problem of potholes with days of the arrival of the monsoon rains and the reason this happens is mainly due to digging of the roads by the agencies/PWD department to carry out the work of laying cables, water connection, sewage connection, etc. With this in mind now the PWD department is investing in two Jetpatcher machines which will make the job of patching up potholes easier. One machine each will be stationed in both the districts and work order issued on nomination basis, the company has given an 18-months guarantee after repairing the potholes and based on this the department will issue further work orders. The work will also be monitored. Picture above sees Minister Nilesh Cabral at a live demonstration of the pothole patching. Present are MLA of Taleigao Jennifer Monserrate, CCP Mayor Rohit Monserrate and other dignitaries.

REGULATE FOOD TRUCKS!

FOOD trucks are now becoming a common sight in Goa. Especially after the long drawn out covid pandemic which has lead to unemployment, many seem to have taken recourse to self-employment through these food trucks. But there is lack of regulatory mechanism here.
Many food trucks are parked on roads, creating congestion as customers gather. An example is opposite Goa Medical College at Bambolim. Further, it is necessary that not just a mere license of Panchayat but also clearance of FDA is taken for these food trucks. This is essential to maintain safety of consumer interest.
­­­— Sadanand M. Raikar, Salcete.

100 DAYS OF DR PRAMOD SAWANT!
THE Dr Pramod Sawant government has completed 100 days in office. In office, but not in control! The major achievement has been the squandering of a whopping Rs5, 59,25,805 on an ostentatious 18 minute swearing in ceremony of eight ministers, held on March 28, 2022 at the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium.
A further Rs72,21,972 (rupees seventy- two lakh twenty-one thousand nine hundred and seventy-two) was spent on the 134 vehicles hired for VIPs and their security attending the swearing in ceremony on the first day of this government. It was all a criminal waste of public money despite the State coffers being empty.
The devious way in which the government has tried to even postpone the Panchayat elections is now exposed. This heartless and ruthless government has not bothered to even resolve the issue of the striking Anganwadi workers. Despite promising good governance and transparency with zero tolerance to corruption, it has been 100 days of an administration with rampant corruption and scams galore.
We have been witnessing nepotism and sheer display of arrogance. Our infrastructure continues to fall apart at a remarkable pace. Our capital city of Panjim and parts of Goa have been converted into Olympic-size swimming pools. Potholes on our roads and bridges have been transformed into craters, ideal habitat for frogs but very dangerous for pedestrians and two-wheelers and even four-wheelers. Land grabbing and other crimes continue unabated!
Poor workmanship as a result of corruption and inadequate supervision and care by the authorities is still flourishing. Pramod Sawant’s promises are like China-made goods, quickly broken with neither a guarantee nor warranty. He should do a factory reset and start afresh to deliver urgently with transparency and integrity what people desperately need and want.
— Aires Rodrigues, Ribandar

TACKLE FLOODING!
LAST July there were videos on social media showing flooded houses in Taleigao with inmates wading in ankle deep dirty gutter waters. Authorities blamed the high tide for the same. Is it the same this year too or has it been remedied? The media must check out the same.
In case flooding still exists like last year, then this is inhuman and Goa HRC must act. Water must be pumped out. Overhead tanks should have been built and the water pumped into the same. The same water can then be treated and used as either potable water or water for washing.
In Assam floods have claimed lives and videos show people drinking questionable water or cooking with it. In January 2018 the Israeli prime minister gifted Modi with the Gal-Mobile: an independent, integrated water purification vehicle, designed to produce high-quality drinking water.
It can purify up to 20,000 litres per day of sea water and 80,000 litres per day of brackish/muddy or contaminated river water and bring it to WHO standards. The PM mentioned the same would come in handy during calamities. Why has the same not been deployed to Assam?
— R Fernandes, Margao

WHY GOANS ARE MIGRATING
MINISTER for Transport, Industries & Panchayat Raj Mauvin Godinho, whilst speaking at an official function to celebrate the completion of Dr Pramod Sawant’s 100 days in office, said that some people say Goans are leaving the state because there are no job opportunities here. But on the other hand these same people are seen opposing projects which are coming to Goa with job opportunities!
The reason why Goans are opposing these projects is because they know that they are being brought here by politicians like Mauvin Godinho, not for the benefit of locals but for the benefit of the neighbouring outsiders, who don’t mind polluting Goa’s sacred environment of villages, and of course to increase political vote banks for various politicians.
How many locals are there in all the industries/factories which have already been set up over the years in different parts of Goa? What are the salaries of workers currently working there? Are the owners of all these industries (most of whom are non-Goans) really employing Goans (doubtful) and paying them descent salaries in the range of above Rs50,000 to Rs 80,000 per month in the respective establishments?
A self-centered/power hungry politician like Mauvin Godinho (currently enjoying his own “ache din” by being in the Dr Pramod Sawant- led BJP government and incidentally, surviving on the votes of migrant settlers to win his own Dabolim seat every five years), should stop lecturing Goans on the importance of setting up “faltu” projects/industries in our villages — by now everyone knows for sure why these projects are being brought in and why Goans are leaving for jobs abroad.
Respective governments have failed Goans on the employment front for years as even government jobs are sold (sometimes given based on religion and depending on which political party’s supporter you are). Due to this most Goan (especially Catholics) don’t want to stay in Goa but are trying to migrate abroad to improve the quality of their family life – even by leaving their precious family members behind in Goa.
—Jerry Fernandes, Saligao