PANJIM: The Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) on Monday extended the Pay parking contract for next three years even as the Mayor Rohit Monserrate and councillor Surendra Furtado traded charges against each other over the sopo collection.
During the special meeting, CCP Commissioner Clen Madeira refuted opposition’s allegations of scam in pay parking contract and said that the bid winner had already deposited 70 per cent of the bid amount in the form of bank guarantee and security deposit.
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Stating that a new three-year contract will be signed with the contractor, Madeira said the contractor has been permitted to collect the pay parking fees even though order has not yet been issued as he had already deposited bank guarantee and Rs 1.60 crore security deposit. The CCP would have to pay the contractor compensation if he was not allowed to collect the fees after the end of the earlier contract, he informed.
Opposing the extension of the contract, four opposition councillors Surendra Furtado, Uday Madkaikar, Ruth Furtado and Joel Andrade demanded to know how the Corporation accepted the amount from the contractor when the contract had ended. “How does the contractor know he is going to get the contract, and how have you accepted that amount from him?,Andrade asked and demanded to furnish a copy of the draft agreement.
“What about all the money the contractor has been collecting after the contract expired in August this year?”, the opposition councillors asked and alleged that the Corporation had suffered loss of crores of rupees.
Soon after the meeting, CCP Mayor Rohit Monserrate and Furtado traded charges over the issue of sopo collection. Monserrate alleged that the Corporation suffered huge loss during Furtado’s tenure as the CCP collected only Rs 40 lakh in 2016 and that the sopo fees during Ashtami fair was reduced Rs 60 to Rs 20 per square metre without obtaining approval of either the standing committee or the Corporation.
However, Furtado refuted the charges and claimed that the base price for sopo in 2016 was Rs 50 lakh per year. He said since on two occasions as no bids were received, it was advisable to collect sopo departmentally and till date the CCP is collecting the sopo.
Furtado said that the Mayor should try to know what was the inflation in 2016 and then make statements. “I was extra-cautious and I always obtained government approvals,” he said refuting Mayor’s charges.
