LONDON
While we all recognise there is a need to develop land in Goa, it shouldn’t be at the cost of the environment, but instead of the wishes of the population and well-being of its residents.
Everyone, especially our politicians and government functionaries, needs to understand the greater need for a sustainable balance between development, the environment and people’s wishes.
We are now at the point where there is so little open space left in Goa that we really can’t afford to sacrifice any more of that open space to development.
One of the main concerns is the continuing pressure to build on the coastline despite risks from sea rise and increased cyclone and tsunami activity due to climate change. Once you allow building right on the coastline, the next thing you get is an application to build an ugly seawall or a retaining wall to protect that coastal development.
The net result would be a coastline that’s really nothing but concrete.
The government should instead look to make better use of brownfield sites, as well as restoring derelict buildings and building more concentrated housing.
The biggest problem that we face today is finding stable funding from the government for the upkeep of our heritage sites and maintenance of newer infrastructure that they have built or put in place. The public understands that it is expensive to preserve all our heritage sites, and organisations, both private and quasi-government, rely on donations and volunteers to do the job.
The public at large is culturally and emotionally attached to our heritage and it is my belief that if organisations and individuals, whether private or quasi-government, demonstrate to our community that they as guardians and protectors of our heritage sites are really delivering value to the community “ that they are an active and vibrant organisation “ then they will surely attract the necessary funding from the larger Goan community and the Goan diaspora spread over the world.
The protectors of our heritage sites need to get to that position where there is a greater understanding of the value of what they do, of the kind of work they do and the kind of activity involved in the protection, upkeep and maintenance of the heritage sites. This will allow them to attract funding and our heritage sites, in turn, can generate some of their own funding through a reasonable visitor fee.
For the public to develop a trust in the work of our heritage protectors, it would make sense for those involved in protecting and maintaining our heritage sites to show what their money has been used for, and remind volunteers of the value of their work.
Heritage site owners, organisations and individuals should, from time to time, through public information initiatives, emphasise the importance of the heritage sites under their guardianship. It comes down to our shared sense of community “ understanding our heritage is so crucial because that is what binds us together. It’s that shared experience from the past, which have very different perspectives depending on the faith we show allegiance to.
I believe that if we understand heritage and explore it, it can really help to inform who we are as a community in the present day. We need to promote Goa’s heritage by using fun events and sharing more of the stories that the public wants to know about or ought to know about. Heritage events should include and incorporate the stories of our shared past including an all-year walk-about and interactive engagements for school and college going students, parents and the general public at large.
Hopefully, going forward there will be greater efforts at preserving of what little we have left of our culture and heritage.
[The writer is a UK based Stock Control Assistant, from Cortalim with a deep understanding of Goan issues]
