The government has finally admitted that over a period of ten years it will pay out around Rs 400 crore to the garbage contractor who has been given the contract of constructing and running the new Solid Waste Management plant at Saligao. The admission came after the opposition asked in the Legislative Assembly as to why was the contractor being paid such a huge amount when his capital infusion into the project was merely Rs 149 crore, which accounted for the cost of construction of the plant. The Chief Minister, however, said the payout was not a big amount considering that the contractor would bear the loss in the event of the plant’s failure. He also said that the State has not invested in the project, except for land acquisition and construction of a compound wall.
While those arguments can be debated, this is the first time that the government has actually admitted that the garbage treatment plant at Saligao is going to cost the exchequer a sum of approximately Rs 400 crore. All this while, the government had been bandying the figure of Rs 149 crore, which is the cost of construction of the project. Herald had asked this very question a year ago, on its issue of August 16, 2015, asking as to why is the government not coming clean on the payments to be made to the contractor. Herald investigations had worked out that the project was going to cost the government Rs 389 crore. It took a year for the government to admit the correct amount it was going to be paying the contractors over a period of a decade.
The problems with the plant, however, are not restricted to the finances and government spending. The plant is ready, has been inaugurated and is now operational, but is not operating to its full capacity. It has a capacity of treating 100 tonnes of garbage a shift, but is currently receiving far less garbage than its operational capacity for treatment. The highest amount of garbage it has received since it was thrown open is 59 tonnes in July, while in the previous month of June it got just 46 tonnes and in May 32 tonnes. All these quantities are far too less than its day capacity.
The shortfall in the capacity, as claimed by the Minister for Science and Technology, is because not all 25 panchayats of North Goa that have been directed to send garbage to the plant have started doing so. To meet the shortfall, the beach cleaning and national highway cleaning contractors have been asked to ‘dump their waste for treatment’ at the plant, the minister said. Even that is not helping meet the full capacity. Since the government is spending such a large amount on the plant, the least it has to ensure is that the facility receives the amount of garbage it needs for treatment. Goa generates far more garbage than the capacity that the plant has to treat per shift. Estimates of the garbage generated by the State are of around 400 tonnes a day, of which half comes from the urban areas. A large amount of garbage is also generated from the coastal areas that are oriented towards tourism.
The State’s garbage problem has been escalating, calling for a garbage management policy and treatment plant. Now that the latter is available allowing it to function at much below its capacity smacks of inefficient planning and management. A private entity starting a unit will first ensure that the supply chain of raw materials is in place. This has apparently not been done here. In this case the raw material is garbage, which is available in plenty, what is required is ensuring that it reaches the plant. With a little effort this can be achieved. The government’s payout to the plant has already begun, there is no reason for it to be running at below its capacity.
