PANJIM: Goa's northernmost coastal village - Morjim - may end up like the beach resorts of the Mediterranean which have lost their culture to growing tourism and trade, warns an international study. Morjim is about to be the victim of the tourism and the different culture that the tourism brings into Goa.
"Morjim is at crossroads. It can preserve its natural riches with a vibrant and caring tourism industry or it can suffer the same fate of beach resorts in the Mediterranean whose culture is destroyed," according to Oxford Brookes University's Hilde Dunker, an expert in sustainable tourism.
The detailed study conducted by the Centre for Development and Emergency Practice (CENDEP) at Oxford Brookes University, in collaboration with NGO SEEDS India and the International Centre Goa (ICG) has identified key threats as well as opportunities for Morjim.
The 15-page document is being released today in Morjim's fish market, an area frequented by most of the locals, 40 kms away from here.
The study says, "Unless better managed, Morjim's growing tourism trade risks swamping this quiet village, and plunging those already vulnerable into further uncertainty." Morjim is also known as mini-Russia as several hundreds of Russians have made this village their second home.
The village, represented by BJP?s Goa unit chief Laxmikant Parsekar in the State Legislative Assembly, also saw Nationalist Congress Party leader Rajan Ghate launching a campaign against the foreigners buying land here.
The campaign had snowballed into full length agitation forcing the state government to initiate an inquiry which identified that around 400-odd foreigners had purchased properties in Goa by violating the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). - ZN
4 comments:
How do these NON-Goan Foreigners get clearance to purchase property in Goa? While an NRI Goans are scrutinised and refused the rights of purchasing property in Goa. Without the involvement of Goan politicians these Russians would not be able to purchase and colonise areas such as Morjim. Morjim does not belong to the Russians to refuse local Goans access to the area. As our Current Corrupt Ministers will do nothing to stop this menace it is time for the citizens to take matters in their own hands.
Once this place was quite and serenity prevailed in all its locality. The beach was quite and only few aged people used to go for taking their annual sea bath. First people used to travel by canoes and then the ferry and now easily accessed by the Siolim – Chopdem bridge. Now this serenity has been lost and will never revive again unless we wake up from our deep slumber. Many people have sold their properties to foreigners and now prefer to live in flats in cities. This is our own Goan people’s creations. Who will take the blame on its head. The elected politicians are only after their wellbeing and never bothered to check the integrity of the people. They only know to roam during the time of election like beggars asking for votes. No amount of persuasion can help the present situation unless unity of all the Niz Goenkars is solicited insistently to stop this menace once for all and get back our old golden Goa.
Goans have lost everything to the Indians first and now it is getting lost to foreigners like Russians. All Goans in Goa drive away the Russians thell them that Goa is not their father's property and tell them neither it is the property of their Godfathers the Goan Ministes
Mickky Pacheco has even gone to the extent of naming his children with Russian names.What about Churchills.They have one called YURI.
Very soon name places in Goa will be changed too.Panjimgrad,Margaograd,Vascograd etc
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