Will AMCAC agree to experts' committee ?

Sandesh Prabhudesai
10 April 2000  

The closure of the controversial Meta Strips plant has definitely helped in diffusing the violent situation due to which the tourist state was paralysed for almost a week. But the real issue still lies ahead which may worsen the situation, if not handled properly.

Throwing ball in the court of the Anti Meta Strips Citizens Action Committee, the government is presently waiting for a response on its proposal to constitute an expert committee to probe into the pollution angle, giving equal representation to both the sides.

But the AMCAC, which is spearheading the agitation, does not appear to be in a mood to accept the proposal of having a probe by a tripartite committee. Chief minister Francisco Sardinha has granted them eight days to decide upon it.

"The government and the company are hand in glove right from the beginning. We are confident that they will overscore us and establish that the plant is not pollutant", says Nelson Fernandes, the AMCAC secretary. He however leaves it to his committee to take a final decision within a day or two.

Not the people's movement alone but the ruling politicians also fear the wrath of the Church, which is openly supporting the year-long agitation even by ringing Church bells to mobilise the village crowd. The Church here indirectly plays a major role during elections in the Catholic-dominated areas, from where the chief minister as well as the industries minister are elected.

"We are prepared to pack up and go if the experts committee proves that ours is a pollutant factory. But the government should seek a letter from the AMCAC that they would abide by the committee's decision, come what may", says A V Parekh, the president of Meta Strips.

This is precisely the AMCAC is not prepared to take risk of. As they are determined not to listen to anything less than scrapping of the project, Fernandes fears that the company would manipulate the committee report and the whole agitation would ultimately fizzle out.

"I will not waste a single minute to wind up the plant if the committee proves that it is pollutant", reiterates Sardinha. Denying possibility of any kind of government interference into it, he proposes to appoint environmental experts of national repute while the committee would be headed by a retired judge.

The company in the meanwhile has reiterated that they would move to the court challenging the 'illegal' order of closure if the government does not accept their request to revoke the order within a fortnight. Its gates were sealed on Saturday, following a week-long violent agitation by the villagers in South Goa.

Chief secretary Ashok Nath asserts that the government has every right to close any establishment in a larger public interest. His order states that the government has prima facie considered the objection to the factory on the grounds of environmental and air pollution.

The company however dismisses the allegation regarding any kind of pollution, claiming that it involves process of only melting and not smelting the copper wires to manufacture brass strips and foils. Parekh also clarifies that they will not import PVC-coated copper wires.

Fernandes on the other hand has pointed out yet another blunder the company has played upon the government. Without installing the necessary machinery, the Meta Strips has shown that it has already manufactured its product worth $ 606 and exported it by 30 March, since the last day for enjoying 15-year sales tax holiday was 31 March.

Opposing any move on the part of the government to open the gates of the factory and start production within a fortnight or any time in future, Fernandes clearly warns that it would lead to more bloodshed like in the past. The police however is still being deployed in the tension-prone areas in the close vicinity of the port town of Vasco.

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