MNE’s Five Candidates in Mapusa Municipal Election Fray
Mapusa, Oct 26: WOMEN POWER is in the limelight with the Mapusa Nagrikancho Ekvott [MNE] introducing five candidates – four of them ladies -- for the elections to the Mapusa Municipal Council Elections which will be held on October 31 this year.The candidates are : Jacinto D’Souza (Ward No.3 – Karaswado) , Jeanette Gomes (Ward No.4 – Camarcazana), Freeda Coutinho (Ward No.6 – Feira Alta), Samira Swar (Ward No.8 – Angod) and Angela Sequeira (Ward No. 15 – Morod).
“These five candidates are members of the MNE and were chosen because of their active participation in the MNE-involved activities selected for their commitment towards fulfilling the aims and objectives of our organization, ” said MNE convenor Advocate Antonio Lobo.
Drastic restructuring of the cluttered and filthy Mapusa Municipal Market, bad roads, ineffective garbage collection, lack of sewerage system for Mapusa (which is now already in stages of implementation – thanks to the MNE’s efforts in this direction), overflowing drains and gutters, menace of stray dogs and cattle are some of the issues being highlighted in the MNE’s Manifesto that promises relevant solutions through its candidates being elected to the Municipal Council.
Jacinto D’Souza (35), a structural engineer by profession, is facing the municipal hustings for the first time and has pitched his hat into the fray to strengthen the overall development of the city’s infrastructure which includes the much-needed roads, sewage system and garbage collection.
“ There is also the slum area in my ward where hygiene desperately needs to be improved through cleanliness programmes to prevent deseases like malaria, typhoid and so on. Lack of sanitary facilities in my ward has led to people defecating/urinating in open spaces. So I will convince the PWD to build proper public toilets in this regard.”
“Malaria cases have been noticed to be increasing in my ward over the years and this menace has yet to be effectively dealt with through proper concerned actions by the Mapusa Municipality, which I intend to do on being elected to the municipal council, ” he said.
Jeanette Gomes (63), housewife and also first-time candidate, recalls how 15 years ago former Chief Minister Dr. Wilfred D’Souza had requested her to contest the Mapusa Municipal Council Elections. “The present candidate in ward No.4, who is contesting against me – Marlin D’Souza (BJP) – was my opponent then and had asked me to withdraw in her favour due to our friendship – which I did.”
“Though she (Marlin D’Souza) won the elections and was followed by her husband who is the present councilor, not much has been done to bring about improvements in the ward. There is a great need to deal with the garbage problems, bad roads, overflowing drains and gutters and insufficient street lighting to meet the needs of the ward’s 1991 voters. If I am elected, I intend doing something positive in this regard – including house-to-house garbage collection which is being presently done only in selected areas despite the entire ward paying taxes for this,” said Gomes.
Freeda Coutinho (46), a self-literate housewife with training in programmes like computers, tailoring, cookery and hotel management under her belt, is focusing on her area’s problems like garbage collection and hygiene and asking people to avoid dumping garbage indiscriminately, creating foothpaths over open drains which pose a hazard for schoolchildren and passers-by, chocked drains with foul water overflowing on roads used by pedestrians, also posing a health hazard for nearby residents, improper street lighting, lack of which causes vehicular accidents and robberies that have been occurring in the ward.
There is a need for police patrolling in this ward during night hours to prevent occurrences of criminal activities” she said while point out that huge potholes on badly-tarred and uneven roads cause accidents and injuries to pedestrians including schoolchildren, besides proper vehicle parking facilities needed to prevent illegal parking that causes traffic bottle-necks, zebra crossings marked and traffic police to be posted during school hours for safety of schoolchildren at heavy traffic roads, polluted water released into the drains by residential buildings and residents that could get into the potable water system pipes run alongside these drains. Too many buildings constructed without proper hygiene systems in place where labourers defecate and urinate in open places, building and raising heights of drainage walls, while also converting the lane going down to Alankar Cenema from the Mapusa-Bicholim main road at ‘Distikars’ to be made into a One-Way” she said.
Samira Swar (38), a B.Com graduate and housewife, said “My ward No.8 has a four decades-old water pipeline which is corroded, insufficient in size for providing adequate water supply to the 1,342 voters and others in the ward, and where a new pipeline has not yet been laid – despite having been approved by the PWD about six to seven years ago.”
“The power supply system here is problematic with chronic short-circuits and power tripping occurring almost daily, especially during the monsoons, and which – according to the electricity department – can be solved through the installation of a fused-based power supply system. Garbage collection is a big problem as it is not being done systematically but instead being carried out sporadically, while potholed roads need to be filled-in to prevent accidents and harm to pedestrians.”
Swar also highlighted the need for an exclusively-reserved marketing space in the Mapusa Municipal Market for Goan vendors from Bardez-Taluka. “About 75 per cent of this space is taken up by non-Goan vendors and , sadly, local vendors are being denied their space to market their products. So this marketing space will fulfill that need,” she added.
Angela Sequeira (48) Social worker and a house-wife, highlighted the need for a joggers park in the uncultivated agricultural land towards the Mapusa river as there is no facility for the local residents, especially the senior citizens to tend to their leisure except all round commercial activity. The very active and heavily used one-and-half kilometer Morod road is heavily pothole ridden and rendered unusable during monsoons. This road is being filled-in with rubble and powdered metal aggregate which has been a temporary solution for years. Indiscriminate parking causes bottle-necks where traffic is sometimes held up for hours together. One of the reasons for the frequent damages to the Morod road is that the gutter is at a higher level than the road, leading to water accumulation and thus leading to faster deterioration of the road surface, generating chronic dust pollution in the area.
“The main nallah which runs through the market, the storm water drainages and open gutters need to be covered with concrete slabs -- are chocked with filth that provide a breeding place for mosquitoes besides stinking to high heaven, the main consequence of unplanned development,” she said. The door to door garbage collection according to her is ineffectively implemented when all residents are paying taxes for the same. “The Mapusa Clinic road at Feira Baixa needs to be made a one-way” she adds.
Highlighting the background of the MNE, its convenor Adv. Antonio Lobo said it was basically formed by citizens of Mapusa and neighbouring areas of Bardez, who were concerned about the inefficient functioning of the Mapusa Municipal Council in meeting the needs of the population in their jurisdiction.
“The MNE came into being about three years ago and, since then, it has been interacting with the municipal council ( the chairperson and the chief officer) in highlighting the problems and suggesting solutions. However, these interactions have been stonewalled by the municipal council’s lack of suitable response and commitment.”
“Mapusa is growing at a hectic pace as far as ‘development’ is concerned and the new Outline Development Plan (ODP) formulated by the Goa Government is focusing on massive concretization of Mapusa in which much-needed open and green public spaces for parks, exhibition grounds, jogging tracks, auditoriums and playgrounds have been left out. When the MNE met the Goa Chief Minister and other elected representatives connected to Town & Country Planning and PDA, the ODP committee inserted – in the final ODP – a mere ten-meter-wide joggers track bordering the Mapusa river to seek to placate the MNE.
“The Kadamba bus stand, which was constructed about 20 or more years ago, is a ‘shame’ and needs to be relocated to another area to ease the traffic congestion caused by its usage as also inter-state transport hub where buses and trucks stop over in their movement from places such as Bangalore, Pune, Kerala etc.” Lobo said, adding that the growing number of vehicles like cars, buses, autorickshaws, motorbikes and scooters too has added to the congestion – coupled with roads badly in need of repair and lack of proper traffic management that hamper the smooth flow of traffic.
From: gulf-goans@yahoogroups.com [mailto:gulf-goans@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of floriano
Sent: Tuesday, October 26, 2010 5:43 PM
To: goaworldtoday@gmail.com; gulf-goans@yahoogroups.com; Goa-Goans@yahoogroups.com; canada goans; Goenchim Xapotam; moira-net@googlegroups.com; dasyagoa@gmail.com; csjpgoa@gmail.com
Subject: [Gulf Goans] MNE's Press Release at PC today at 5 p.m at Mapusa [1 Attachment]
[Attachment(s) from floriano included below]
Cheers
floriano
GSRP/GEAG/PPS/MNE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is not ENOUGH that GOOD, HONEST citizens contest elections.
It is not ENOUGH that GOOD, HONEST citizen voters elect good, honest representatives.
GOA urgently needs 'GOOD, HONEST, DISCIPLINED SYSTEM of GOVERNANCE'.
Wherein, even a dishonest person is forced to be good, honest n disciplined, or to QUIT.
Only through PPS can such 'good, honest n disciplined system of governance' be identified and accepted.
PPS GOA =PEOPLE for POLITICAL SANITY = PEOPLE'S POWER SYSTEM
for a date in 2012
Display the 'PPS' sticker on your vehicle today, to reject political madness tomorrow.
http://www.goasu-raj.org/gen/articles/70.asp
http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/254068/1043608998/name/roadmap_goa-su-raj_party.pdf
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gulf-goans/attachments/folder/132590897/item/64224316/view
This is to announce that MNE [MAPUSA NAGRIKANCHO EKVOTT] has 5 candidates in fray as a PANEL in the forthcoming Mapusa Municipal Elections sheduled for 31st. October, 2010. It will be a peculiarity to note that 4 out of 5 candidates are WOMEN.
The joint visible campaign of the MNE for the Panel will commence from Tuesday (19 Oct) or Wednesday (20th October)
This is for your kind information.
Thank you & Cheers
floriano
GSRP/GEAG/PPS/NME
www.goasu-raj.org
16/10/2010
[www.goa-world.com]
