Where are you talking about please?

Strange really. Benidorm was the brainchild of one man in the sixties. He decided to listen to the tourists and prospective expats and give them what they wanted. He got all the developers together, all the investors, jumped on his moped and went to see Franco in Madrid, and made sure that everything was in place to ensure success. The result is a mixture of high rise hotels but with lots of space and wide avenues around them, blue flag beaches, as well as a lovely old town. It was designed that way. By the Spaniards. To encourage tourism. It was and is one of the biggest success stories of its type.

Goa on the other hand, from what I read .... well ... isnt listening to anyone from what I glean from here.

Dont knock Benidorm!

Didn't think i was.....just don't like high rise. I am sure your right but having been to Benidorm and Salou neither would be for me thats why i go to Goa........i really love Barcelona though.

All I am saying is that I would love a proper pavement - then I could be like the old dear on the programme 'Benidorm' and wiz around
would not like any more hotels.

wouldnt it be great!!!. If Goa stopped all those ugly polluting buildings come up, but instead focused on pavements, water, garbage collection. At least a fraction of the paradise may be saved.

Sadly there is no immediate money in it, so no chance!

You would think the politicians would see it as a chance to cream off their usual cut, but that relies on no-one noticing that the planned work hasnt happened and this type of thing would be too obvious!

Suppose so. Odd though, that where there is clear law and order, there's money in dirt collection and recycling. An indicator of an advanced society?

The problem there Wheatsheaf is that a lot of that money is false.

A lot of recycling still ends up eventually as land-fill, but not in its country of origin. In a way, its just another scam as we all feel "holier than thou" because we are ardent recyclers but basically have no idea what happens to it after the lorry takes it away. The only way to be SURE you are recycling is to do it yourself by re-use, composting, or just fixing something rather than throwing it away.
Having been involved with the conception of glass recycling in the late 70's, and the separation problems we faced, I am am very very sceptical about the concept of collecting completely mixed recycling from the home via a dedicated wheelie bin. The dynamics of sorting paper from plastic from glass from aluminum etc etc in anything like a viable manner? Not on as far as I can see.
India recycles what it can with financial viability. We visited the slums in Bombay in February and there you see true money driven recycling and it works with a capital "F", but Goa now sees itself as too affluent to mess about with garbage, just dump it out of immediate view, or if that gets stomped on, ship it to Karnataka/Maharashtra and let them deal with it.....

I saw a documentary about recycling/garbage disposal Mumbai. Amazing. Perhaps, since the Goa govt wants FN property owners to be registered businness', we should start up a garbage disposal operation. Say just for North Goa to start with. What would that take, with your knowledge of the industry?

A f**king miracle!!

No seriously, the secret to financially viable recycling is having a paying source for your end product and lax enough health and safety rules to process it to a sell-able condition.
Neither of these really exist in the West which is why, in my opinion only, recycling will never be a finacially viable practice overall here.
In India however it is a different pan of mackerels on the processing front as no rules exist, or are enforced. The problem is really that India has lost its way as a worldwide manufacturing base. This started years ago with a refusal/inability to produce a quality product, something the Chinese embraced willingly. The Indian manufacturing ethos of "it'll do/ it works was fine for the product starved sub-continent but cut no ice on the export market. Who dominates the electrical goods market in more affluent areas of India (Goa, Bombay etc)? Samsung, LG, Sony, thats who. What happened to the likes of Videocon. Kenstar, Godrej and all the other Indian manufacturers?
Still doing OK serving the poorer, less informed part of the country but not players in the lucrative export markets.
How about cars? The dominant brand in India is Maruti SUZUKI. Using Japanese technology, design, and most important, quality control they have taken over. Have you ever travelled in a Tata Indica, the home grown competitor that was destined to take over the No1 spot? How many do you see on the roads? the reason is they are cr*p! They rattle, fall to bits and look 10 years old after 3.
What I am getting at here, in a long and drawn out way is that India only has the potential to be a low cost processing centre for recycled materials, without the high value re-manufacturing side, completely lost to neighbouring countries. Same with cashew nuts............
"Oh God" I hear you say, "where is he going now?" Well for at least 15 years to my knowledge, India has been going on about converting its massive export of cashew nuts from raw and unprocessed (low value) to packaged ready for sale (high value). Have they succeeded? Nope, in fact they have seen their market share overall drop, with the sales going to efficient producing countries instead..........what to do?

Hmmm. So what you are saying is that if we set low standards we can do something?

Sorry Wheatsheaf, please elaborate?

Originally Posted by
Hi Douglas,

Thats a scary thought about the current market down turn only being the rehearsal for the real thing, but i can well believe it. How soon do think the real thing will happen?

I know what you mean about how easy it is to accumulate stuff. I've always greatly admired minimalists who travel with a sawn off toothbrush and one change of clothing, but somehow i've not yet learnt how to live like that, despite my nomadic lifestyle!

Regards


Hi
I cant predict the exact timing of the downturn , but i am sure that the financial system will implode at some point. Central banks will print more money and facilitate more credit to delay it of course , but as this is essentially the root cause, balance must inevitably be restored.

As i get older, possessions are becoming less and less important, but i feel we are naturally acquisitive creatures.

regards
douglas

How right he was - see into the future or what!
Merry Christmas Douglas, where ever you are I hope you are well and happy

AGOOD GLASS OF WINE AT A SENSIBLE PRICE! look out for ND Wines Galaxy. red and white both very quaffable mrp 190rps. i buy in bulk for 170rps a bottle.no hangover after a whole bottle of red!

I have just now read that some Islamic crowd, in UK,are planning a mass demonstration to honour the `innocent` civilians killed by the Brits. in Afghanistan. In Wootten Bassett of all places. What is the UK government playing at? Freedom of speech and action being stretched somewhat.
Regards,
Davie.