Originally Posted by babu1 (Post 7715528)

Originally Posted by Vagatorian (Post 7715621)

Done last week and passed around a few contacts :thumbup:

Originally Posted by k800mer (Post 7715752)

from an email I received earlier

The Prime Minister's Office has responded to that petition and you can view
it here: http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page19848 Prime Minister's Office

Originally Posted by hemingway (Post 7715767)

The response is to Geoffrey Pond's petition which was active last year! A coincidence!:sneaky:

Hemingway

Originally Posted by noni (Post 7715844)

Definately Pond's what a cheek. so excited I copy/pasted myself, so secretary nearly fired.:rofl:

Originally Posted by hemingway (Post 7715917)

How so? :eek: What had poor secretary (who has so much to put up with anyway) done wrong? Surely a bonus is in order as 'ever so' humble secretary saved esteemed moderator from potential personal 'pink cheek moment' . . . . . . .

Regards

Hemingway

Originally Posted by noni (Post 7715940)

:rofl::rofl:

Originally Posted by hemingway (Post 7715971)

Sorry, off topic, but used 'pink cheek moment' as OH & I were having debate as to whether it was 'embarassment' OR 'embarrassment' & I didn't want to get pulled up again for another faux pas on the spelling front! Wednesday night - a couple of Kingfishers, a chat with K-C & sharing a bottle of Rosé & neither me or OH can spell anymore. . . . . . . . . .

Regards

Hemingway

P.S. - OH tells me her brother has just fallen off his bike & broken his collar bone! I bloody knew exercise was dangerous! :thumbdown:

Originally Posted by noni (Post 7715979)

Thought we had a truce on spelling.:sneaky:

Originally Posted by hemingway (Post 7715987)

Yes, I know - but I didn't want to be the one to fall at the first 'school boy error' spelling hurdle!

Hemingway.

Originally Posted by noni (Post 7716913)

www.goanvoice.org.uk. has come up trumps again, highlighting that the reply from the No.10 is for last years petition.

Originally Posted by Kan-conned (Post 7717020)

Yes a big hand to our friends at GV, TRUE GOANS :thumbsup:


http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/goahomes/ 461 signatures 39 + to go !

P.S Marcus D'Sa ( Marquis de Sade = BAGABOY innit :rofl:)

Originally Posted by babu1 (Post 7715373)

THE HERALD
Goa's complete online news edition - Wednesday, July 01, 2009

LETTERS

Reduce visa duration

Marcus D’Sa, Mapusa

We do need to promote tourism in Goa. But that’s where it should stop. We welcome people of all nationalities to come and enjoy the beauty and culture of our land, but there are many foreigners, especially Britishers and Israelis, who have settled down in Goa.

The government should prevent foreigners from staying in this country permanently. There are quite a number of foreigners living in Goa for years together. These foreigners who reside in our country almost permanently or for very long durations (exceeding 3 months) are definitely not tourists but a drain on our economy. There are quite a few foreigners who work at various business establishments along the coastline, thus depriving the locals of jobs. Some of them may even have criminal antecedents and may be escaping the law in their own countries.

The Government of India should not grant any foreigner a visa for more than 3months in a year.

© M/s Herald Publications Pvt Ltd, P.O.Box 160, Rua San Tome, Panjim-Goa 403001.

Anyone in favour of a reciprocal arrangement? And can we also have a freeze on the granting of citizenship by H.M Government UK? A check on 'criminal antecedents' would be interesting.

Or perhaps Mr D'Sa and his like might for once step outside their idyllic vaddo mindset and wake up to multiculturalism, entreprenueralism, a globalised economy, the rule of law, and justice within fair and tolerant societies.

Economics of Tourism in Goa : The liveliehoods of those Goans who work in tourism depend on the foreign exchange brought in by foreigners and spent in the local economy. Whether a foreigner is a two week tourist or long term resident is irrelevant; though long termers by simple logic contribute more to the economy per annum than short termers, even if these short termers are so called 'high rollers'.

Many Goans have prospered beyond the wildest dreams of even a generation ago as a consequence of tourism, not without hard work and wise investment.

Nobody is being deprived of a job, and certainly not 'locals'.

Reality: many Goan youth have no interest working in hotels, bars and/or restaurants, liesure industries, etc. Many have no interest in work whatsoever. Young (and not so young) Goan men simply enjoy the tourism gravy train by hanging around bars, restaurants and clubs where they might get lucky and form a relationship with a foreign female. This is usually either financially or sexually rewarding; most often both. Others are involved in the supply of drugs to foreigners; that is their liveliehood.

Goan women, with a few exceptions, are denied access to employment in the tourist sector. This is a social and cultural issue concerning local mores and local attitudes towards equal opportunities of employment. It is entirely divorced from the precence and/or influence of foreigners in Goa.

Many Goan business people prefer an owner/managerial business style whereby 'hands on' work is carried out by outsiders, most often from the Northern States of India and Nepal. Sometimes this is at minimal pay of food, perhaps basic shared accomadation, and tips (from foreigners!). Others lease out their business premises to 'non Goans' at annual rents; if the business is seen to prosper they raise the rents, and if the business flounders they raise the rents!

There are a handful of foreigners who make the fateful mistake of attempting entreprenuerial activity in Goa, most often trying to run a small bar, restaurant, or market stall. They have to deal with a barrage of bureaucratic complications, rip offs, intimidations, personal insults, harrassment and resentment, whether that be from the Excise Dept., Panchayats, PWD, Electricity Dept., Foreigners Registration Office, State Government at the Goa Secretariat, Goa Police, corrupt Goa Police, and/or hostile locals.

Historically, almost all such foreign business folk lose their entire investments after much hard work and against all the the odds that were deliberately placed before them. Much of the infrastructure as exists today in the tourist industry in Goa is the residual investment and enterprise of well intentioned foreigners who were eventually forced to sell up and move on. There are countless Goan businesses now trading which were founded on foreign good will and foreign capital which was subsequently abused and misappropriated.

No foreigner in India has access or entitlement to any Indian State Benefits of welfare, health, or any other provision which would assist or prolong their stay in India. All, with the exception of those who may be married to an Indian national, are completely self financing.

No foreign national in India is, as the dubiously pen named Marcus D'Sa of Mapusa states, 'a drain on our economy'!