CLOSURE OF GOAN MINES

That this House congratulates Indian judge, Justice M. B. Shah, for his inquiry exposing the illegal mining in Goa which he estimates has cost the Goan community 3.75 billion over the last five years, plundering the natural resources and environment of Goa in an unregulated and often illegal trade of iron ore to China and other countries at the expense of the environment, health and livelihoods of Goan farmers; welcomes the decisive action of the Indian and Goan authorities in closing the mines, allowing only those mines with proper documentation to resume operations in due course; urges that all those workers who have lost their incomes as a result of the closures be compensated for their loss of wages and that the Indian central government and Goan state government work with Goan community organisations, environmental non-governmental organisationsand representatives of the local farmers, mine workers and lorry drivers to develop a plan for the development of a long-term sustainable economy in Goa that is not dependent on mining and the destruction of the environment.