An Alert Citizenry

THE Pilerne Citizens Forum (PCF) must be congratulated for their action and call to investigate the electoral rolls in the state.

If each area in Goa follows the example of the dynamic people of Pilerne and address other critical issues threatening Goa and Goans, surely Goa will be on its way to true progress and we can realise the Goa of our dreams.

ARWIN MESQUITA, UAE

River Princess Removal

THE sad chapter of the removal of the MV River Princess has now hopefully reached its climax with the stage set for the removal of the ship. It was gross negligence on the part of SMIPL to leave the ship stranded off the coast of Candolim for the first few years. The government then confiscated the ship arguing that SMIPL was not taking any action to remove the stranded ship. One would have hoped that the government would rectify what SMIPL could not do, and therein lies the tragedy. Successive governments failed to budge the ship an inch for the last 6-8 years and ended up destroying a three-km stretch of beach and the livelihoods of hundreds of villagers. Crores of rupees were spent on lawyers, consultants and geo-tubes that did not do the work at all. Allegations are flying thick and fast that CrossChem was merely a scrap agent and Jaisu Shipping was a dredging company and hence ill-equipped to handle the salvage operation. The government now has to take into consideration the fact that SMIPL too is inexperienced in salvage operations and yet it has offered to do the job free of cost. Due process and bank guarantee’s must be obtained from SMIPL to ensure that the government is not left with another messy situation in the unfortunate event that SMIPL is unable to remove the ship or cause further damage to the beach and village whilst in the process of removal of the ship.

VISHANT SHIRODKAR, Ponda

Senior Citizen Cards

The proforma by the Department of Social Welfare has provision for date of birth and also phone number in case of emergency. However, both these details are not reflected in the senior citizen card issued. What is the purpose of this phone number? Some banks refuse to accept this identity card as proof of age as the date of birth is not included in spite of the fact that such cards are issued only on completion of 60 years of age. The address, too, should be mentioned in full.

NELSON LOPES, Chinchinim

End of Operation Iraqi Freedom

THE seven-year war headed by the US, against Iraq, termed ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom’ has finally ended with the withdrawal of the last battalion. Needless to say, there would be endless debate on the pros and cons of the war. While many would argue that the American hegemony came at a reckless loss of 4400 precious human lives, others would counter saying that overthrowing the terrorising rule of Saddam Hussein, perhaps the worst dictator of our times, was equally important. There would be others contending that whatever was the problem, it was the internal affair of Iraq but many benign voices would outpour that when people’s freedom was suppressed from all fronts and none could even legitimately question his authoritarian rule, how could the people revolt against the dictator. Let’s remember one thing: A human being is born to enjoy a life of freedom. To die as a free man would be more honourable than to lead a life of slavery. One last assertion to all those who were steadfast in their argument that America was interested in the oil from Iraq. The Americans have proved that it was not oil but setting the Iraqis free that was their priority.

MICHAEL VAZ, Merces