REMO’S WISHFUL THINKING by Nisser Dias

As recent as last week internationally acclaimed pop star Goa’s own Remo Fernandes was quoted in the section of the press, “The garbage problem is very simple to solve – it is mainly plastic. All it requires is a government which wants to work, not merely divert funds to Switzerland. I challenge the minister in question: give me your powers and I will solve the full problem with three months. If I succeed, you give up your chair. If I lose, I’ll stop making music. Deal?”

I could not agree more with Remo with the former part of his statement, however though in the latter part of his assertion, this out spoken personality exposes his ignorance of the enormity of scientific disposal of garbage be it bio-degradable or non-degradable. When we speak about garbage it is not only waste that is generated in the hotels, eateries and households. Whatever is discarded is garbage, be it industrial waste, construction debris, information technology junk, hospital rejects, chemicals, rubber, styrofoam, glass wool and the list can go on. Just segregating plastic from bio-degradable waste is not the solution and over-coming scientific disposal of garbage from all over Goa in three months is wishful thinking.

Just like Remo, not only me, a lot of more people would like to see a cleaner Goa or maybe they would like to see this paradise on earth like Singapore or Oman but let us be practical, we Goans and or rather Indians lack civic sense. There is an urgent need to inculcate in ourselves and in our children the necessity to maintain cleanliness in our homes, villages and cities. This process is also an important part of the exercise of garbage disposal. Just lifting or clearing garbage and making it disappear is not the solution for scientific garbage disposal. A system should be put in place wherein every member of the society, be it adults or children contribute towards doing their bit to keep Goa clean. Of course it should be enforced with an iron hand. It is not easy to make people change overnight but when a stringent fine is imposed for littering then citizens fall in line much faster.

For the moment, Goa has become a huge garbage dump. Heaps of household waste is dumped just outside housing societies and colonies, by the roadside, lanes and by lanes. Construction debris and mounds of premix line our national and state highways. Tyres and other rubber material, glass wool ends up in mangroves. Styrofoam baskets, livestock wastes, vegetables and fruits are dumped in the ponds, rivers and other water bodies. Shack owners lining our beach stretch bury their waste in the pits dug into the sand, sewage water is also directed in the pits.

Saying garbage menace or woes can be solved in three months is just talking in the air. Do we have the infrastructure, equipment in place to tackle the problem? Have we identified areas for dumping construction debris, are we equipped to recycle plastics or dispose tyres? Is collection of garbage in the cities efficient? Do we segregate our garbage at homes or is it left to our age old proven method of using scavengers like pigs, cat and fowls to dispose our garbage in villages.

Even if Remo Fernandes is empowered with the Urban Development ministry which oversees garbage management can he bulldoze his way through the red-tapism of government procedures for procurement of purchasing equipment like vehicles and other machinery and setting up infrastructure such as treatment plants? Goans are proud of Remo through his music but in this case he would be better advised by Dr. Claude Alvares, Patricia Pinto, Clinton Vaz and some others who have hands-on knowledge of dealing with the garbage, people and government.

While on the subject of the government, Urban Development minister Joaquim Alemao has utterly failed in managing garbage generated in the state. Worse is the fact that after spending crores of rupees of precious exchequers money he did not even oversee commencement of a single treatment plant at Sonsoddo though he backed an unproven technology and an unknown company to the hilt. What he achieved was reprimand by the High Court and Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) endorsed that he had spent precious exchequers money at the same time it fortified the allegation that he gained through commissions.

In this circumstances Remo cannot expect any help from the government especially the current rudderless government led by chief minister Digambar Kamat. Of course on Remo’s call we can expect hordes of volunteers coming forward for a short span of time however how many Goans can dedicate ourselves in maintaining cleanliness in Goa for a long period of time.

Personalities like Dr. Claude Alvares, Patricia Pinto, Clinton Vaz would be ever willing to share and join in Clean Goa campaign. People would be more then willing to contribute financially, but more importantly valuable contribution would be being on the field and helping in picking up the garbage by getting your hands dirty.

Patricia, Dr. Claude and Clinton are working tirelessly to manage garbage and change the mindset of the people, if Remo knows a better way than he should share it with them. But for the moment Remo Fernandes should not sacrifice his abilities to compose music because of some uneducated, illiterate minister as Goans will neither have Remo’s music nor clean Goa.