The government’s decision to promote Goa as a tourist destination in China, Australia, Canada, Italy and South Korea is another misconceived waste of public funds. It will only be a free junket for the Tourism Minister and his entourage only further burdening our State coffers. Instead, if the government had cared to improve the crumbling infrastructure, Goa would have sold itself. In the current state of affairs with garbage strewn all over even on the beaches which are also infested with stray dogs and cattle, the high end decent tourist will not care to step in. Haphazard planning, improper sanitation, and the uncontrollable stray animal menace all over is projecting Goa in bad light. Nothing more needs to be said about our pathetic and perilous roads. Besides, Goa now branded as the gambling capital has become a very safe haven for the narcotic trade and menace of prostitution. The alarming increase in crime has made our once serene Goa, now a very unsafe destination. Much needed sustainable infrastructure improvement, safety, and facilities that all the people, hosts as well as tourists can avail of must be paramount.
