Shaikh Jamaluddin | NT
DIVAR: Islanders of Divar under the two village panchayats -Sao Mathias and Goltim-Navelim said that the areas under the two panchayats have been largely neglected as far as development is concerned.
They alleged that politicians show their faces only when they are invited for any event or any project cornerstone-laying function and now since the panchayat elections are approaching they have started making appearances to find out about their problems and issues.
An islander claimed that due to such approach of the leaders who visit the island only at the time of elections with tall promises, later only to forget them conveniently, the younger generation has started moving out of the island for better prospects with many even moving to UK by making Portuguese passports.
A senior citizen said that efforts are needed to be taken by the politicians to ensure that postal services, telephone connectivity and banking system are improved on the island.
Apart from these issues, the islanders feel that demands like the urgent need for a bridge, tarring of internal roads at Goddar, Amboi and church ward, improvement of sports ground at Malar etc have been neglected.
The floor above the health centre is also yet to be completed and the islanders face inconvenience due to lack of a resident doctor. The health centre is ill-equipped and most of the time the patients are asked to go to the family health centre at Corlim in Old Goa.
The islanders also complain of poor bus services. Although they have KTC bus services, but due to the timings the commuters hardly get to travel without any hardships.
Even the double engine ferry plying between Divar and Old Goa has been withdrawn for the past one year even though it was allotted by the government to facilitate quick service, the islanders said.
However, their main demand of a bridge has only remained a distant dream. The islanders said that politicians like Digambar Kamat and Churchill Alemao had laid cornerstone for the bridge but it went missing the very same evening.
Now, Divar is no more a distinct island in the state; there are many mega housing projects coming up in both Sao Mathias and Goltim-Navelim village panchayat areas and in this view the islanders feel that the local bodies and politicians should pay attention to basic infrastructural facilities on the
island.