Goa Church gathers support against garbage dump near heritage complex

(July 30,2009):- The Catholic Church in India’s southern coastal Goa State, is rallying support for its efforts against a State Government decision, to create a garbage dumping site near the historic Old Goa Church complex. UNICEF - the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization has declared the site as a would-be heritage site. The diocesan council of priests fears that the decision by the State government would destroy the heritage site tag for the Old Goa They say that Old Goa is also a holy site for Catholics and non-Catholics, as it holds the prestigious remains of the Spanish Missionary St. Francis Xavier.
About 400 Catholic priests signed a letter to the Chief Minister Digambar Kamat and sent it to him last week The letter drew also the attention of the authorities to the importance of Old Goa as a center for tourism .Having a waste management site within such an area, will certainly cause nuisance to the tourists and create a bad image for the state, it said. The priests hoped the Chief Minister would do all that is necessary to stop this outrage.
In another letter written by Maverick Fernandez, the executive Secretary of the Council for Social Justice and Peace, a church backed organization, to all the parishes across the State, called upon the Catholics in all walks of life to be proactive in their campaign against the dumping site.