Salvaging River Princess

THIS is in reference to the letter ‘Stranded River Princess’ by Mr Adelmo Fernandes (July 28). Marine shipping is governed by the rules and regulations of the Marine Mercantile Department (MMD) and the marine surveyor’s decision is final.

The Goa government has no say in it at all. Moreover, it is not advisable to tender to two companies underwater work, especially that of cutting hull plates off a shipwreck. This gives them opportunity to blame the other in case of any mishap or shoddy work and it is difficult to identify the culprit. Moreover there are sewage and oil tanks which if not retrieved carefully, can cause sea pollution. Never in the history of shipping for a single shipwreck such kind of work has been entrusted to two companies/contractors and therefore it is an unpractical suggestion.

STEPHEN DIAS, Dona Paula

Road Safety

THE South Goa district magistrate has issued a notification banning parking of handcarts and erecting of stalls within a radius of 50 metres from all road junctions and traffic islands. Now even parking of vehicles within a radius of 50 metres from any road intersection is banned and buses have been prevented from making stops within a radius of 25 metres from road intersections. This must be considered a very important decision as many accidents take place because of vehicles being parked at blind turns. Stalls are also seen mushrooming near traffic islands attracting people and inconveniencing the road-users in the commercial capital and in the Port Town. Now it is left to the civic authorities to implement the order by cracking the whip on these illegal vendors. Probably this ban could be introduced in North Goa as well as hindrance on the roads is of grave concern in the capital city and in Mapusa too.

ADELMO FERNANDES, Vasco

Stop all Talks with Pakistan

WE should never have been talking to Pakistan given the manner and nature of their interaction which tends to be irresponsible and downright uncouth as evident by their Foreign Minister, Mr Qureshi’s remarks after the talks with Mr S M Krishna recently. It has been clear to most Indians that there is no point in talking to the Pakistanis. But upon prompting from the US, the charade continues. Thus without any heart in the process, the talks end but naturally in a fiasco. One needs to understand the Pakistan psyche to arrive at the reason for the consistent breakdown of talks with India. Pakistan and its transient leaders concentrate on short-term gains and try to extract the maximum from any country with which it has a dialogue. In that sense while other countries like the US, China and others have something to give Pakistan, India has nothing to give them except maybe Kashmir, which naturally India cannot part with. Therefore the leaders of Pakistan play up to their domestic constituency by showing their anger and frustration and end up behaving badly. Just like it is said in our common life that one cannot choose one’s neighbours, so also is the situation with Pakistan as far as India is concerned. If a neighbour is not civil, then all interactions are kept to a minimum. The same must apply to Pakistan. And given the nature of Mr Qureshi’s outburst which has gone beyond the boundaries of decorum and courtesy we should stop all further interactions with Pakistan irrespective of the prompting or nudging from other countries like the US. Alternative, India should mount a diplomatic offensive in international circles to convince the world that Pakistan is a pariah terror state and should be treated as such.

S KAMAT, Alto Betim