In August last year amongst a mountain of other assurances, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar whilst luring us for votes had promised the residents of Ribandar that he would ensure that within three months Medical services and facilities are made available at the old Goa Medical College Hospital in Ribandar. It will soon be six long months and Manohar Parrikar has not cared to even move a file in that direction. It was just another of his usual political stunts and pack of lies.
Ribandar may be part of the Corporation of City of Panaji (CCP), but as far as overall development and civic amenities are concerned, Ribandar remains utterly neglected and in a very decaying state despite Manohar Parrikar having been an MLA for so long and with the residents having to pay very high municipal taxes. Even some villages in the hinterland of Goa are much better off. And yet it was Ribandar that had the honour of being the resting place for St. Francis Xavier on the night of March 14, 1554, in the Church of Nossa Senhora de Ajuda when he was brought from Malacca on his journey to Old Goa. It is Ribandar which also is the location for the first hospital in Asia.
A very patient Ribandar has for decades been demanding the very basics, a football ground, a community hall and a proper market but it is very anguishing that these long standing demands of Ribandarites are yet to be fulfilled. We do not have a Children’s park or a garden nor a public library and there is lack of proper sanitation with garbage strewn all over. Erratic power and water supply is the order of the day. And for the Fonduvem Ward of Ribandar even the dead are denied a proper crematorium to Rest in Peace.
Over the years while our MLAs and Municipal Corporators have risen and rocketed from Rags to Riches, our sorrowing Ribandar remains stuck in the dumps. And on the astronomical assets acquired by Manohar Parrikar’s side-kick and Principal Collection agent Siddharth Kunkolienkar less said the better. In the name of making Panaji a Smart City he has been raking the moolah galore. Time we smarten ourselves and distance from these wolves in very black clothing.
