The file pertaining to the Margao Municipal Council’s agreement with Multipurpose Industrial Services Advertisements and Events has mysteriously gone missing.
The Chief Officer Johnson Fernandes has been asked to trace the file which was dealing with the iron fencing around the municipal garden where people place their advertisements.
Multipurpose Industrial Services had signed the agreement following court intervention as the council wanted to cancel an earlier agreement over the same issue somewhere in 2010 having to pay the council a sum of Rs 40,000 per annum with an increase of 10 per cent every financial year.
However, it is learnt that the company did not pay the council any fee according to the agreement. The MMC served a notice to pay the outstanding amount of a little over Rs 4.5 lakh for the last financial year. A cheque of Rs One lakh submitted by the company was rejected by the council that demanded the whole amount due to it.
Incidentally, there are 100 panels for advertisements on the fence around the municipal garden and another 30 panels in the passage from State Bank of India to Marliz store. The company leases out these panels for advertisements for a certain fee and has not paid the MMC any amount till date.
MMC chairperson Dr Babita Prabhudessai has contacted Multipurpose Industrial Services proprietor in a bid to solve the issue and thus began the search for the file. “I wanted the file to study the whole matter so that I could discuss it with the proprietor but the file is mysteriously missing,” she said adding that as per the file movement register it is showing to be in administration section which in turn states that it is with the taxation section.
The taxation section was the one that issued the show cause notice last year to the company and hence the file was reportedly with that section. But even Abhay Rane, the taxation officer, does not know where it has gone from his section.
Dr Prabhudessai, who is determined to resolve the issue so that the council can get the revenue due to it, will spare no effort to find the file and has asked the Chief Officer Johnson Fernandes to trace it.
Incidentally Adv Cleofato Almeida Coutinho to whom the file was referred for legal opinion returned the file to the council long back with his opinion and the chairperson admits having seen the file with the advocate’s notings following which the notice was issued to the party.
It would be pertinent to point out that the entire technical section of MMC was changed recently following allegations that the previous officers had turned very corrupt and the new officers have found many files that were earlier claimed to be missing. “I am sure that similarly this file too will be found,” said Dr. Babita.
Proprietor of Multipurpose Industrial Services Armando Fernandes while assuring to clear the dues in installments said he had paid Rs One lakh last year which the MMC did not accept nor return the cheque.
“I cannot pay the whole amount in one go and am willing to pay in installments and that is why I paid 25 per cent last year and by December this year I shall pay another two installments,” he said adding that since taking up the contract in 2010 he paid around Rs. 47,000 to the council in 2011.
“I have been visiting the council regularly asking for the figures but they have not been responding and it is ridiculous to ask me to pay the whole amount when I am willing to pay it in installments,” he said.
