[Reader-list] Please endorse Campaign against STZ - Kerala

[Anivar Aravind]

Reply to: forumkerala at movingrepublic.org
===============================
Dear friends and colleagues,


The Kerala Tourism Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan recently announced
that the creation of Special Tourism Zones (STZ) would be considered
if private parties having large tracts of land approach the State
Government. He also declared that government would change the rules
relating to acquisition of land for tourism projects in the State.


The government's plan to announce STZs in Kerala has to be challenged
because it will augment the pressure over the natural and other
resources such as land, water, forests and will lead to environmental
destruction, revenue losses and lack of real economic development of
the state, breakdown of governance systems especially of the
Panchayats with the creation of enclaves and lack of equal and
non-exploitative employment opportunities for local communities in
STZs.


Now Kerala Tourism seems to be using "Responsible Tourism" for it's
marketing, especially in the UK market. The recent workshop organised
by Kerala Tourism mainly dealt with the responsibility of various
stakeholders in further development of tourism within the state. But
at the same time, they became mute on issues such as the
constitutional rights of the Panchayat Raj Institutions, Coastal
Regulation Zone (CRZ) violations by hotels and resorts, backwater
pollution by the houseboats and tourism industry and various social
issues. Who is responsible for these damages? And for effectively
addressing these problems?

The need of the hour is the proactive involvement of the civil society
against these malpractices. We request you to support our call for a
larger debate on the true nature of tourism development in the state,
on its questionable economic contributions and its negative impacts
upon vulnerable communities and Kerala's fragile environment.


If you can agree with the points we raised in our letter to the Chief
Minister (attached),  please get back to us by 25th Feb. (Please
E-mail your endorsement to        forumkerala at movingrepublic.org ) and
by signing the letter, support it as it is. Or if you do not agree
with all the points or want to raise additional points of your own,
additional initiatives supporting the cause are also welcome.


In solidarity

 Forum  KERALA

For more details please contact:  Forum KERALA, C/o TC 354,
Muttada.P.O, Thiruvananthapuram 25, Kerala.


Phone Numbers: Ajayan – 9895007171, Anivar Aravind – 9446545336,
Santhosh Kumar  K.C. – 9447375708, Sumesh Mangalassery - 9388402948


About Forum KERALA
--------------------------------
The Forum KERALA, a platform of civil society movements, people's
groups and individuals who are sharing a common vision and mission
related to Kerala Society – its developmental, environmental,
social-cultural and political issues – at various levels. The Forum
will take up research, campaign and mobilisation.  We hope this will
facilitate a creative space for the civil society groups and concerned
individuals to come together and working for a better future.

======================
Open Letter to Kerala CM
======================


To

Sri. V.S. Achuthanandan
Honourable Chief Minister of  Kerala
Thiruvananthapuram.


Sub: Appeal against the  approval of Special Tourism Zones within the state.

Dear Sir,

We express  our serious concern regarding the proposal for the new
Special Tourism  Zones on the lines of Special Economic Zones within
the state. We are  writing this letter to you in the context of
Honourable Kerala Tourism  Minister's statement on Special Tourism
Zone during the inauguration  of the recent workshop on Responsible
Tourism organised by Kerala Tourism.  Minister announced that the
creation of STZs would be considered if  private parties having large
tracts of land approach the State Government.  He also declared that
government would change the rules relating to  acquisition of land for
tourism projects in the State.

The proposal  for Special Tourism Zones has to be dropped because it
will increase  the pressure over natural and other resources like
land, water, forests  and will lead to environmental destruction,
revenue losses and lack  of real economic development of the state,
breakdown of governance systems  especially of the Panchayats with the
creation of enclaves and lack  of equal and non-exploitative
employment opportunities for local communities  in STZs. Government
should withdraw this move especially in the context  of the recent
controversies on Special Economic Zones (SEZ).

Currently Kerala  Tourism and industry says that Kerala has an upper
hand in tourism since  it is now a much sought after destination. So
it is in the profiteering  interest of the tourism industry to set up
projects in Kerala. The state  should not provide further incentives
and subsidies to attract investments.  Instead, the state should cut
down existing incentives and subsidies  and introduce new taxes for
the people of Kerala to benefit from tourism.

Kerala Tourism  has a strong record of proving that planning, policies
and regulations  to date have not effectively addressed major problems
caused by tourism.  These include the unsustainable extraction of
ground water in tourism  spots such as Kovalam, which is causing a
serious lack of drinking water  for local communities. Problems also
include the land speculation activities  related to tourism especially
in the coastal and backwater areas, and  pollution of the backwaters
by the tourism industry. The tourism industry  has a significant role
in spoiling the mangrove belt and the breading  areas of fishes in the
Vembanad Lake. Sustainable waste management systems  are lacking in
the state.

The Coastal  Regulation Zone (CRZ) violations by hotels and resorts
are a serious  concern in the state, and so is the uncontrolled
tourism development  in Kovalam and Kumarakom, which has lead to many
environmental and social  problems. There are disturbing indications
that prostitution including  the commercial sexual exploitation of
children is happening in tourist  destinations in Kerala.


Here, we request  you to appoint a commission, where representatives
of civil society  organisations and people's groups should be part, to
assess the environmental,  social and economic damages done by tourism
industry within the state  before initiating new projects, plans and
marketing strategies.

We would like  to bring to your attention to amend the Kerala Tourism
(Conservation  & Preservation of Areas) Act 2005, passed by the
previous UDF government,  which effectively strips Panchayats of their
powers by constituting  a committee dominated by bureaucrats.

We also appeal  your intervention to stop Kerala Tourism's move to use
"Responsible  Tourism" for its marketing. Foreign consultants with
dubious credentials  have either been approached by the government or
have volunteered to  showcase Kerala as an example of "Responsible
Tourism" while no  serious steps have been taken to even remedy the
environmental and social  damages created by irresponsible tourism
development in State in the  past four decades. We request you to stop
the involvement of these industry-biased  consultants in the
development of tourism within the state.


Copy to:
Honourable Minister    of Home Affairs and Tourism Sri. Kodiyeri Balakrishnan.
Honourable Minister    of Finance Dr. Thomas Isaac.

Media Release
===========

Government should  not allow Special Tourism Zones (STZ) in Kerala.
 =================================================

Thiruvananthapuram,  12/2/2007. Forum Kerala, A collective of civil
society movements,  people's groups and individuals urged Kerala
Government to withdraw  its move to introduce Special Tourism Zones
within the state. The group  also asked Kerala Government to appoint a
commission, where representatives  of civil society organisations and
people's groups should be part,  to assess the environmental, social
and economic damages caused by the  tourism industry within the state
before initiating new projects, plans  and marketing strategies. The
forum also demanded that the tourism industry  should give
compensation to the affected people in the tourist destinations  for
its damages.

The Kerala Tourism  Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan recently announced
that the creation  of STZs would be considered if private parties
having large tracts of  land approach the State Government. He also
declared that government  would change the rules relating to
acquisition of land for tourism projects  in the State.

According to The Ministry  of Tourism, Government of India, the STZs
will be on the line of Special  Economic Zones (SEZ) and also offer
the same facilities and incentives  to the investors. The STZs are
proposed to be located in the major tourist  destinations, cities as
well as along the coastline.

The state government's  move to introduce Special Tourism Zones has to
be opposed because it  will increase the pressure over natural and
other resources such as  land, water, forests and it will lead to
environmental destruction,  revenue losses and lack of real economic
development of the state, breakdown  of governance systems especially
of the Panchayats, with the creation  of enclaves and lack of equal
and non-exploitative employment opportunities  for local communities
in STZs. Kerala Government should withdraw this  move especially in
the context of the recent controversies on SEZs.

Currently government  and tourism industry says that Kerala has an
upper hand in tourism,  since it is now a much sought after
destination. It is in the profiteering  interest of the tourism
industry to set up projects in Kerala. The state  should not provide
further incentives and subsidies to attract investments.  Instead, the
state should cut down existing incentives and subsidies  and introduce
new taxes for the people of Kerala to benefit from tourism.


Kerala tourism has  a strong record of proving that planning, policies
and regulations to  date have not effectively addressed major problems
caused by tourism.  These include the unsustainable extraction of
ground water in tourism  spots such as Kovalam, which is causing a
serious lack of drinking water  for local communities. Problems also
include the land speculation activities  related to tourism especially
in the coastal and backwater areas, and  pollution of the backwaters
by the tourism industry. The tourism industry  has a significant role
in spoiling the mangrove belt and the breading  areas of fishes in the
Vembanad Lake. The Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ)  violations by hotels
and resorts are a serious concern in the state,  and so is the
uncontrolled tourism development in Kovalam and Kumarakom,  which has
lead to many environmental and social problems. Sustainable  waste
management systems are lacking in the state. There are disturbing
indications that prostitution  including the commercial sexual
exploitation of children is happening  in tourist destinations in
Kerala.



Forum Kerala asked  Government to amend the Kerala Tourism
(Conservation & Preservation  of Areas) Act 2005, passed by the
previous government, which effectively  strips Panchayats of their
powers by constituting a committee dominated  by bureaucrats.

The statement issued  by the forum also strongly criticised Kerala
Tourism's move to use  "Responsible Tourism" for its marketing. The
forum views it with  concern that in the recent workshop organised by
Department of Tourism  discussing the responsibilities of various
stakeholders in further development  of tourism within the state,
issues such as the constitutional rights  of the Panchayat Raj
Institutions, Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) violations  by hotels and
resorts, backwater pollution by the houseboats and tourism  industry,
child abuse and child labour in service industries in the  state and
various other social issues have been completely  ignored. "Who is
responsible for these damages? – And for effectively  addressing these
problems?" the Forum asked.


Recent media reports  revealed that "success stories" of responsible
tourism in Kerala  would be presented at the World Travel Mart,
London. Foreign consultants  with dubious credentials have either been
approached by the government  or have volunteered to showcase Kerala
as an example of "Responsible  Tourism" while no serious steps have
been taken to remedy the environmental  and social damages created by
irresponsible tourism development in State  in the past four decades.
It has a come as a surprise to us that Mr.  Harold Goodwin is
announcing through the media that cases of "Responsible  tourism"
exist in the state!" Harold Goodwin, faculty at the  Britain-based
International Centre for Responsible Tourism, reportedly  announced to
the press in Thiruvananthapuram that "Since the World  Travel Mart
2007 is being held (in London) in November, the biggest  beneficiary
would be Kerala tourism  because there would be a separate session on
responsible tourism and  a few success stories of Kerala in this
aspect would be showcased"  (Source: Indo-Asian News Service, 3/2/07).


How can he announce  the presentation of such case studies now? If he
can, he should reveal  which are the case studies. The Forum asked
Harold Goodwin that he should  make clear how governments' proposal
for the STZ would match with  his theory of "Responsible Tourism"? The
forum pointed out that  neither the Tourism Department nor industry
lobbyists can use such ploys  to undercut the growing resistance to
indiscriminate tourism projects  and irresponsible tourism practices
that negatively affect the local  communities and their livelihoods in
Kerala. The forum decided to continue  the campaign to democratise
tourism practices to ensure people's participation  in the decision
making process and to seek compensation for the victims  of
displacement, environmental destruction and loss of livelihood systems
 caused by tourism industry practices and policies in the state.



For more details  please contact:

Forum KERALA, C/o TC  354,Muttada.P.O, Thiruvananthapuram 25, Kerala.


Phone Numbers: Ajayan  – 9895007171, Anivar Aravind – 9446545336,
Santhosh Kumar K.C.  – 9447375708, Sumesh Mangalassery - 9388402948