The Malmok Aquarium
Everyone loves to swim and snorkel at Malmok but we leave it to God to take care of the area, we never teach visitors water etiquette, e.g., not to trample coral, and we deliberately mix boats and people, as if accidents never happen.
Once upon a time, maybe two, three years ago, a line of defense was installed in Malmok, a swim zone, perhaps 75 meters out and in total over one kilometer, covering Malmok, Boca Catalina and Arashi.
The Tourism Product Enhancement Fund paid for the buoys, the installation first, then the upkeep.
A small project, yet vital, protecting people from injury and marine life from boat parts.
For one full year, the highly motivated and knowledgeable people of Sea Solutions worked without pay, cleaning and maintaining the swim zone, because their money did not come through, for 12 months, lost in the government bureaucratic labyrinth.
This year they decided, no more, work must be compensated on a timely basis, thus the swim zone in Malmok is almost gone, abandoned, the buoys can be seen drifting aimlessly, praying for Sea Solution to return and anchor them properly, keep the boats and fishermen out, people and all their body parts intact and in.
I understand the budget is there, but Parliament hasn’t approved the expense and as long as law-makers dilly-dally Goa’s TPEF people are frozen in space.
At one point MinTour personally PORMISED to intervene. Nothing happened.
Sharlyze Romano, paging Sharlyze Romano. Hello?!
What happened here, how did you let this slide?
Or perhaps it is true that the project now falls under the ATA product department?
Anyway, if we can’t get a small environmental/safety project going, for sure, the big ones are doomed to failure.
Untrue
Goa published a resume of activities for 2019, and among finished projects listed the Malmok walkway. Not True. To date, half of the project, less than one kilometer is semi-finished, in ten months.
Waiting in Line
Report from the front, the Ontvanger office in Noord: They started handing out numbers at 7:30am, and by 8:20am, had 120 people waiting in line. Service however was delayed. The change carrying armored trucks were late and the two cashiers couldn’t open their registers. License plate frenzy is on and for a developed country we have a primitive way of handling things.
