The Global Anti-Golf Course Movement (GAG'M) asked the Government of Kerala to convert the Thiruvananthapuram golf course into a public biodiversity park. The following is the text of a letter it has addressed to the Chief Minister in this regard:
We are writing to you to express our concerns over the negative impacts of golf courses and kindly ask you to support the proposals of Kerala Tourism Watch and other civil society organizations for a moratorium on all golf course developments in Kerala and for the conversion of the controversial Trivandrum golf course into a public biodiversity park for conservation and education.
To introduce ourselves, we belong to an alliance of citizens and non-governmental organizations who in 1993 formed the Global Anti-Golf Movement (GAG'M) in Penang, Malaysia, as a response to the worldwide outcry of thousands of communities harmed by environmentally and socially damaging golf course projects. For more than fifteen years, we have been involved in actions to raise public awareness on the multi-dimensional problems related to golf course and resort developments and to foster an open and frank debate with decision-makers on the impacts of golf courses and golf tourism.
Case studies from around the world clearly show that golf course projects that are often part of large-scale tourism schemes can cause immeasurable environmental losses and hardships for local residents. Such developments devour huge stretches of land, destroy forest, coastal and marine areas, and wipe-out invaluable biological diversity. High-standard golf courses require a package of imported grass, fertilizers and a wide range of chemical products, including colouring, soil hardening and coagulating agents, and the yearly spraying of thousands of kilogrammes of insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, all of which contribute to pollution and degradation of the local environment. On top of that, golf resorts consume enormous amounts of water, tens of millions of gallons, all year round, often resulting in chronic water shortage crises in neighbouring areas.
Local governments tend to believe that golf courses will raise their city's image, attract investors and bring in tourist dollars. But often such projects create skewed land use and deprive local residents of land and resources they depend on.
In these times when all efforts are needed to work for food and water security for common people, it is highly irresponsible to promote the elitist and exclusive lifestyle of golf and golf tourism. In China, critics called golf 'green opium' as more and more precious farmlands were turned into water-guzzling and toxic fairways. The central government responded in December 2006 by banning the building of new golf courses, residential villas and race tracks on undeveloped land in order to protect China's rapidly diminishing farmland. And in the face of a looming food crisis, the government of the Philippines recently also decided to prohibit the conversion of agricultural lands into luxury housing, resorts and golf courses.
We do hope that the concerned government agencies in Kerala and New Delhi will also give priority to land for people's livelihood, food production and the protection and enhancement of your environment.
Therefore we are sending out this appeal to respectfully request that you heed the citizens' call for a moratorium on golf courses in Kerala. We agree that all existing and proposed projects in the state should be given up immediately.
We also agree with the local civil society groups that it would be unreasonable and not in the public interest to maintain the controversial Trivandrum golf course with state subsidies. To convert it into a public biodiversity park for the enjoyment and education of both local residents and tourists is a highly recommendable plan that should be realized by the concerned authorities as soon as possible.
In this age of growing environmental awareness, there is no more place on Earth for destructive, wasteful and exploitative golf courses!
Yours sincerely,
Anita Pleumarom
Tourism Investigation & Monitoring Team (tim-team)
On behalf of the Global Anti-Golf Course Movement's (GAG'M) coordinating groups:
Third World Network (TWN)
Consumers Association of Penang (CAP), Malaysia
Friends of the Earth (FoE), Malaysia
Tourism Investigation & Monitoring Team (tim-team), Thailand
Global Network for Anti-Golf Course Action (GNAGA), Japan
Helping Our Peninsula's Environment (HOPE), USA
GAG'M liaison initiative UK (Desmond Fernandes)
Additional signatories:
Forest Peoples Programme (FPP), United Kingdom
Tourism Investigation & Monitoring Team (tim-team)
P.O. Box 51 Chorakhebua
Bangkok 10230, Thailand
Email: timteam02@yahoo.com
Webpage: http://www.twnside.org.sg/tour.htm
Showing posts with label Golf Club. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Golf Club. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Monday, June 16, 2008
LDF differences turn governance into spectator sport
When Justice S.Siri Jagan of the Kerala high court takes up the Golf Club case again, he will have before him two affidavits filed by different officials of the State government, making contradictory claims.
In an affidavit, filed on Friday, U. Shajimon, Under Secretary in the Law department, said Revenue Principal Secretary Nivedita P.Haran had made false statements in her affidavit, filed earlier in the week.
Obviously, both of the officials cannot be right. Justice Siri Jagan has the onerous task of distilling the truth from their sworn statements.
According to Food and Civil Supplies Minister C. Divakaran, this is a matter between two officers, and the government will not get involved in it. Actually, however, this is not a matter between two officials, but one between two departments of the government.
At the political level, it is also a matter between the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which heads the ruling Left Democratic Front, and the CPI, the second largest constituent of the coalition. Revenue Minister KP Rajendran, who belongs to the CPI, endorses the contents of the Revenue Secretary's affidavit. Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan and Law Minister M. Vijayakumar, both of whom belong to the CPI-M, support the Law official's affidavit.
The war of affidavits is the latest episode in the serial drama touched off by the administration's ham-handed attempt to take over the Trivandrum Golf Club.
The club, located on government property, was closed and sealed by the District Collector, during a weekend, acting on a directive issued by the Revenue Principal Secretary in pursuance of a cabinet decision.
The cabinet took the decision on Friday and asked the official to give effect to it within two days. Evidently, the time-frame was set with a view to completing the takeover before likely court intervention the following Monday.
The club filed a writ petition challenging the cabinet decision on Friday itself. Justice Siri Jagan instructed the Registrar of the high court to inform the Advocate General about the petition and advise the government against taking any action until the matter was taken up on Monday.
A government lawyer and the Law Secretary informed Haran of the judge's direction, but she did not recall the order issued to the Collector to take over the club.
Justice Siri Jagan took a dim view of the government action. He asked the government to return the property to the club within 24 hours. He also directed the Principal Secretary to appear in person to explain her conduct.
However, on a review petition filed by her, he exempted her from personal appearance.
In her affidavit, Nivedita P. Haran said she had consulted the Revenue Minister and he had told her to go ahead with the takeover decision since she had received no written instructions to the contrary.
This is not the first time that the LDF government has revealed itself as a divided house. From the very outset, governance has been reduced to the level of a spectator sport.
In the early days of the government, the public was treated to the spectacle of the Chief Minister and CPI-M ministers loyal to party State Secretary pulling in different directions.
The drive against encroachments in the hill resort of Munnar left both the government and the parties divided. The Chief Minister, who sent a team of officials to evict the encroachers, faced opposition from the organisational wings of both the CPI-M and the CPI.
The present situation is more complex than anything witnessed during the past two years. The LDF government now stands before the high court as one incapable of speaking with one voice.
Although the high court summoned Nivedita P. Haran in her official capacity, her review petition is a personal response. She has engaged her own lawyer instead of relying on the government's law officers to get her off the hook.
The government's top law officers also stand divided. On Saturday, the Chief Minister conceded the Revenue Minister's demand that the golf club case be taken away from CPI(M)-nominated Advocate General Sudhakar Prasad and entrusted with CPI-nominated Additional Advocate General Venganoor Chandrasekharan Nair.
However, Sudhakar Prasad will represent the government before Justice Siri Jagan during the hearing on Nivedita P. Haran's review petition.
The government will probably have a lot of egg on its face when this drama ends. --Gulf Today, Sharjah, June 16, 2008.
In an affidavit, filed on Friday, U. Shajimon, Under Secretary in the Law department, said Revenue Principal Secretary Nivedita P.Haran had made false statements in her affidavit, filed earlier in the week.
Obviously, both of the officials cannot be right. Justice Siri Jagan has the onerous task of distilling the truth from their sworn statements.
According to Food and Civil Supplies Minister C. Divakaran, this is a matter between two officers, and the government will not get involved in it. Actually, however, this is not a matter between two officials, but one between two departments of the government.
At the political level, it is also a matter between the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which heads the ruling Left Democratic Front, and the CPI, the second largest constituent of the coalition. Revenue Minister KP Rajendran, who belongs to the CPI, endorses the contents of the Revenue Secretary's affidavit. Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan and Law Minister M. Vijayakumar, both of whom belong to the CPI-M, support the Law official's affidavit.
The war of affidavits is the latest episode in the serial drama touched off by the administration's ham-handed attempt to take over the Trivandrum Golf Club.
The club, located on government property, was closed and sealed by the District Collector, during a weekend, acting on a directive issued by the Revenue Principal Secretary in pursuance of a cabinet decision.
The cabinet took the decision on Friday and asked the official to give effect to it within two days. Evidently, the time-frame was set with a view to completing the takeover before likely court intervention the following Monday.
The club filed a writ petition challenging the cabinet decision on Friday itself. Justice Siri Jagan instructed the Registrar of the high court to inform the Advocate General about the petition and advise the government against taking any action until the matter was taken up on Monday.
A government lawyer and the Law Secretary informed Haran of the judge's direction, but she did not recall the order issued to the Collector to take over the club.
Justice Siri Jagan took a dim view of the government action. He asked the government to return the property to the club within 24 hours. He also directed the Principal Secretary to appear in person to explain her conduct.
However, on a review petition filed by her, he exempted her from personal appearance.
In her affidavit, Nivedita P. Haran said she had consulted the Revenue Minister and he had told her to go ahead with the takeover decision since she had received no written instructions to the contrary.
This is not the first time that the LDF government has revealed itself as a divided house. From the very outset, governance has been reduced to the level of a spectator sport.
In the early days of the government, the public was treated to the spectacle of the Chief Minister and CPI-M ministers loyal to party State Secretary pulling in different directions.
The drive against encroachments in the hill resort of Munnar left both the government and the parties divided. The Chief Minister, who sent a team of officials to evict the encroachers, faced opposition from the organisational wings of both the CPI-M and the CPI.
The present situation is more complex than anything witnessed during the past two years. The LDF government now stands before the high court as one incapable of speaking with one voice.
Although the high court summoned Nivedita P. Haran in her official capacity, her review petition is a personal response. She has engaged her own lawyer instead of relying on the government's law officers to get her off the hook.
The government's top law officers also stand divided. On Saturday, the Chief Minister conceded the Revenue Minister's demand that the golf club case be taken away from CPI(M)-nominated Advocate General Sudhakar Prasad and entrusted with CPI-nominated Additional Advocate General Venganoor Chandrasekharan Nair.
However, Sudhakar Prasad will represent the government before Justice Siri Jagan during the hearing on Nivedita P. Haran's review petition.
The government will probably have a lot of egg on its face when this drama ends. --Gulf Today, Sharjah, June 16, 2008.
Monday, June 9, 2008
NGOs demand closure of golf courses
KERALA TOURISM WATCH, a coalition ofcivil society activists and local communities, EQUATIONS and KABANI –the other direction, have, in a joint statement, urged the Kerala government to wind up the Trivandrum golf club and abandon its golf course. They believe environmental and social impacts warrant a more fundamental approach of dissolution rather than changing the ownership from private to public.
The golf courses are being increasingly brought in to focus due to the environmental and social problems that they engender. Everywhere in the world golf courses have been a major threat for local communities primarily in terms of uncontrolled ground water depletion. Trivandrum golf course, for example, has been reportedly consuming lakhs of litres of water every day to maintain the grass turf.
Conservative estimates by various international agencies show that an 18-hole golf course would consume five million litres of water a day, enough for nearly 10,000
families in a state like Kerala. We must remember that the water consumption by the Coca Cola plant at Plachimada was 500,000 litres a day. It is hardly surprising that the arrears towards water charges of Trivandrum Golf Club ran in to several lakhs of rupees.
At a time when the common people in the city face acute water shortage, maintaining a golf course with direct and indirect state subsidies violate principles of social justice. The argument that the golf courses would promote tourism in the state is completely unfounded. While we are critical of state's tourism policies in general we would like to point out that this argument is particularly flawed. Studies have shown that tourists visiting destinations in developing countries including India belong to the low
spending segment of international travellers. It is unlikely that they will be interested in golf. Alternatively golf courses will not be an adequate incentive for high spending travellers to visit destinations in poor countries. Allowing golf courses to flourish disregarding their environmental and social impacts will only serve the interest of
the local elites.
We understand that the government has been forced to take over the golf course in Trivandrum due to repeated failures on the part the club to comply with the administrative, legal and social requirements. However, taking over the club from its current leadership while the space could continue to be used as golf course will not bring any fundamental change.
The coalition demands that government should take back this valuable property and sees this opportunity to convert it into a bio diversity park. The coalition strongly condemns the attempt by club authorities to use the tourism façade to legitimise their elitist biases and vested interests.
No more golf courses should be allowed in Kerala while the existing ones should be immediately closed down. In this connection we demand the closure of Trivandrum and Kochi golf courses and shelving of the proposed one in Nedumbassery. We note with extreme concern that the Nedumbassery project involves land acquired by evicting local people in the name of Nedumbassery international airport. Tourism department and government of Kerala should pay attention to the concerns raised by national and international movements which oppose golf courses on environmental and social grounds.
The coalition would initiate a state level campaign with the support of civil society organizations to highlight the harmful impacts of golf courses and for abandoning all golf course projects in the state.
EQUATIONS - 9447079763
KABANI – the other direction - 9388402948
Kerala Tourism Watch – www.keralatourismwatch.org
The golf courses are being increasingly brought in to focus due to the environmental and social problems that they engender. Everywhere in the world golf courses have been a major threat for local communities primarily in terms of uncontrolled ground water depletion. Trivandrum golf course, for example, has been reportedly consuming lakhs of litres of water every day to maintain the grass turf.
Conservative estimates by various international agencies show that an 18-hole golf course would consume five million litres of water a day, enough for nearly 10,000
families in a state like Kerala. We must remember that the water consumption by the Coca Cola plant at Plachimada was 500,000 litres a day. It is hardly surprising that the arrears towards water charges of Trivandrum Golf Club ran in to several lakhs of rupees.
At a time when the common people in the city face acute water shortage, maintaining a golf course with direct and indirect state subsidies violate principles of social justice. The argument that the golf courses would promote tourism in the state is completely unfounded. While we are critical of state's tourism policies in general we would like to point out that this argument is particularly flawed. Studies have shown that tourists visiting destinations in developing countries including India belong to the low
spending segment of international travellers. It is unlikely that they will be interested in golf. Alternatively golf courses will not be an adequate incentive for high spending travellers to visit destinations in poor countries. Allowing golf courses to flourish disregarding their environmental and social impacts will only serve the interest of
the local elites.
We understand that the government has been forced to take over the golf course in Trivandrum due to repeated failures on the part the club to comply with the administrative, legal and social requirements. However, taking over the club from its current leadership while the space could continue to be used as golf course will not bring any fundamental change.
The coalition demands that government should take back this valuable property and sees this opportunity to convert it into a bio diversity park. The coalition strongly condemns the attempt by club authorities to use the tourism façade to legitimise their elitist biases and vested interests.
No more golf courses should be allowed in Kerala while the existing ones should be immediately closed down. In this connection we demand the closure of Trivandrum and Kochi golf courses and shelving of the proposed one in Nedumbassery. We note with extreme concern that the Nedumbassery project involves land acquired by evicting local people in the name of Nedumbassery international airport. Tourism department and government of Kerala should pay attention to the concerns raised by national and international movements which oppose golf courses on environmental and social grounds.
The coalition would initiate a state level campaign with the support of civil society organizations to highlight the harmful impacts of golf courses and for abandoning all golf course projects in the state.
EQUATIONS - 9447079763
KABANI – the other direction - 9388402948
Kerala Tourism Watch – www.keralatourismwatch.org
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Behind the club-centred class war
In the none-too-distant past it was easy to identify the bourgeois in Kerala. They travelled by car. They alone did. The proletariat relied on their legs. Sometimes they also used the bicycle or the bus. But neither they nor their leaders used automobiles. The class enemy could, therefore, be recognized without much difficulty. That made class war easy. If the car hit a pedestrian, the driver could be pulled out immediately and beaten up. What if he is not a bourgeois? Isn’t he an agent of bourgeois?
When leaders of the working class started using motor cycles and cars, the situation changed. Today even the guy in an air-conditioned car need not be a bourgeois. So there is no class war on the national highways. In the circumstances, it is necessary to find other ways to distinguish the bourgeois from the adopted sons of the proletariat who travel by car. Here lies the relevance of golf.
Marx, Lenin, Mao and Ho did not play golf. One can’t be too sure of Jyoti Basu. After all, he studied in England. Although he ruled West Bengal for 30 years without the help of any Congressman, he did not close down the gold course in Kolkata. The China Line may have influenced him. In the 20 years since Deng opened China to foreign investors, 200 golf courses were built there. In the whole of Asia there are only about 500 of them.
Just as Krishna needs Kamsa and Bhima needs Keechaka to kill, the proletariat needs the bourgeois to exterminate. By and large, Kerala is a middle class society. The middle class cannot take the place of the bourgeois. Especially so when the proletariat looks to it for adopted sons. A recent study by the Kerala Sasthra Sahitya Parishad revealed that a new rich class is emerging here. How can this section, which contributes liberally for the success of all enterprises from party channel and newspapers to football competitions, be put in the enemy camp?
Whatever may be the situation in West Bengal and China, it is possible to divide the classes on the basis of golf in Kerala. EMS and AKG did not play golf. Pinarayi Vijayan and Veliyam Bhargavan do not play golf. Research by Dr. TM Thomas Isaac or G. Sudharakan can be expected to establish that cricket and golf were introduced by Imperialism to destroy our traditional games. Cricket has been able to produce a brilliant player like Shreesant and earn the support of some cultural personalities like Sukumar Azhikode. Golf has no such achievements to its credit. So the party can certainly decide that businessmen and bureaucrats who play golf are the new reactionaries. But it cannot be said that such ideological calculations are behind the government takeover of the Golf Club at Thiruvananthapuram on Monday.
The legal validity of the government action is under the consideration of the High Court. Let us not go onto that issue here. Even if the action was valid, the question whether it was necessary is relevant. That the land belongs to the government is not in dispute. The government says the lease amount is in arrears. The club claims it is holding the land not on lease but under a licence. In either case, if the club owes the government money, the proper course is to collect the dues. There is no need for the club to lock up the place and take the keys away. The government has also alleged that the place given to the club for playing golf is being used for other purposes. The basis of the allegation is that a bar functioned there. In a State where bar licences are granted most liberally, it is ridiculous to treat the running of a bar in a club as a crime.
Former club secretary EM Najeeb was heard saying in channel discussions that six officers from the Chief Secretary downwards are on the 11-member executive committee of the club. If this is correct, the government can easily correct the club when it does something wrong. The Chief Minister has said facilities for playing golf will be provided.
But he has not said facilities will be provided at the same place. In the circumstances, one may infer that the government proposes to turn out the club and use the premises for some other purpose. It certainly has the right to do so. But it must act in a transparent manner.
Land is needed urgently for developmental purposes and to meet the needs of weaker sections like Dalits and Adivasis. But what Kerala, which has placed hopes in tourism, needs is not development which will turn the land into a concrete jungle. The State is witnessing large-scale urbanization. We must take particular care to retain open spaces which can serve as lungs of the cities. Leaders who have set their eyes on the land held by clubs must understand this.
Golf is a sport with economic significance. Scotland’s 550 golf courses attract a lot of foreign tourists. China, too, has built golf courses as tourist attractions. But there have been allegations that the huge building complexes have been built under cover of golf. There have been agitations in the United States against the building of new golf courses because of the environmental problems they pose. It is the excessive use of pesticides and fertilizers and exploitation of water resources that create problems. The experience of the US, which has about 18,000 golf courses, need not scare us, but we must learn appropriate lessons from it. New methods permit the creation of golf courses without causing much damage to the environment.
How is it that the eyes of the rulers who are looking all around for land that can be seized have not caught the Mavoor property in the hands of the Birlas? Industries Minister Elamaram Karim recently said that the Birlas have submitted to the government a proposal which envisages employment of about 100,000 people. It is a real estate project similar to that of the Mumbai firm which got some land with Karin’s help. All this creates doubts about the government’s intentions.
Based on column ‘Nerkkazhcha’ appearing in Kerala Kaumudi dated June 5, 2008.
When leaders of the working class started using motor cycles and cars, the situation changed. Today even the guy in an air-conditioned car need not be a bourgeois. So there is no class war on the national highways. In the circumstances, it is necessary to find other ways to distinguish the bourgeois from the adopted sons of the proletariat who travel by car. Here lies the relevance of golf.
Marx, Lenin, Mao and Ho did not play golf. One can’t be too sure of Jyoti Basu. After all, he studied in England. Although he ruled West Bengal for 30 years without the help of any Congressman, he did not close down the gold course in Kolkata. The China Line may have influenced him. In the 20 years since Deng opened China to foreign investors, 200 golf courses were built there. In the whole of Asia there are only about 500 of them.
Just as Krishna needs Kamsa and Bhima needs Keechaka to kill, the proletariat needs the bourgeois to exterminate. By and large, Kerala is a middle class society. The middle class cannot take the place of the bourgeois. Especially so when the proletariat looks to it for adopted sons. A recent study by the Kerala Sasthra Sahitya Parishad revealed that a new rich class is emerging here. How can this section, which contributes liberally for the success of all enterprises from party channel and newspapers to football competitions, be put in the enemy camp?
Whatever may be the situation in West Bengal and China, it is possible to divide the classes on the basis of golf in Kerala. EMS and AKG did not play golf. Pinarayi Vijayan and Veliyam Bhargavan do not play golf. Research by Dr. TM Thomas Isaac or G. Sudharakan can be expected to establish that cricket and golf were introduced by Imperialism to destroy our traditional games. Cricket has been able to produce a brilliant player like Shreesant and earn the support of some cultural personalities like Sukumar Azhikode. Golf has no such achievements to its credit. So the party can certainly decide that businessmen and bureaucrats who play golf are the new reactionaries. But it cannot be said that such ideological calculations are behind the government takeover of the Golf Club at Thiruvananthapuram on Monday.
The legal validity of the government action is under the consideration of the High Court. Let us not go onto that issue here. Even if the action was valid, the question whether it was necessary is relevant. That the land belongs to the government is not in dispute. The government says the lease amount is in arrears. The club claims it is holding the land not on lease but under a licence. In either case, if the club owes the government money, the proper course is to collect the dues. There is no need for the club to lock up the place and take the keys away. The government has also alleged that the place given to the club for playing golf is being used for other purposes. The basis of the allegation is that a bar functioned there. In a State where bar licences are granted most liberally, it is ridiculous to treat the running of a bar in a club as a crime.
Former club secretary EM Najeeb was heard saying in channel discussions that six officers from the Chief Secretary downwards are on the 11-member executive committee of the club. If this is correct, the government can easily correct the club when it does something wrong. The Chief Minister has said facilities for playing golf will be provided.
But he has not said facilities will be provided at the same place. In the circumstances, one may infer that the government proposes to turn out the club and use the premises for some other purpose. It certainly has the right to do so. But it must act in a transparent manner.
Land is needed urgently for developmental purposes and to meet the needs of weaker sections like Dalits and Adivasis. But what Kerala, which has placed hopes in tourism, needs is not development which will turn the land into a concrete jungle. The State is witnessing large-scale urbanization. We must take particular care to retain open spaces which can serve as lungs of the cities. Leaders who have set their eyes on the land held by clubs must understand this.
Golf is a sport with economic significance. Scotland’s 550 golf courses attract a lot of foreign tourists. China, too, has built golf courses as tourist attractions. But there have been allegations that the huge building complexes have been built under cover of golf. There have been agitations in the United States against the building of new golf courses because of the environmental problems they pose. It is the excessive use of pesticides and fertilizers and exploitation of water resources that create problems. The experience of the US, which has about 18,000 golf courses, need not scare us, but we must learn appropriate lessons from it. New methods permit the creation of golf courses without causing much damage to the environment.
How is it that the eyes of the rulers who are looking all around for land that can be seized have not caught the Mavoor property in the hands of the Birlas? Industries Minister Elamaram Karim recently said that the Birlas have submitted to the government a proposal which envisages employment of about 100,000 people. It is a real estate project similar to that of the Mumbai firm which got some land with Karin’s help. All this creates doubts about the government’s intentions.
Based on column ‘Nerkkazhcha’ appearing in Kerala Kaumudi dated June 5, 2008.
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