TEAM HERALD
MARGAO: The controversies over sopo collection at the Holy Spirit feast fair don’t seem to end with the issue repeating in May and December last year having upset vendors again.
Aggrieved at the exorbitant rates (between Rs 9,000 and Rs 15,000) collected by the Margao Municipal Council (MMC)-appointed sopo collector, the vendors have demanded that the MMC intervene and ensure that reasonable rate is fixed and abided by.
Vendors have demanded that the Council call a meeting with the sopo collector and the aggrieved stall vendors alleging extortion, for a discussion.
The vendors recalled that in December 2014, the sopo collector had already been warned against collecting more sopo than fixed by the Council, else his tender would be cancelled.
After taking her complaint to the MMC market inspector, a businesswoman Shaila Verenkar has filed a police complaint at the Margao police station against the MMC chairperson.
Verenkar, a double graduate and still unemployed, hails from Fatorda and had paid the MMC fee of Rs 6,600 for a four-metre wide stall at the rate of Rs 3,300 for 2 meters.
However to her horror, she was told by the contractor that she could not use the footpath but instead was allotted a SGPDA gutter. She was later told that she had to pay Rs 15,000 to the contractor for putting a platform on the gutter.
Similarly, there were complaints where vendors were asked to pay three times the rate for a 2 metre stall.
MMC has also been entrusted with the duty of ensuring sanitation facilities for the 300-odd stalls that have been set up on all sides of the Old Market junction which has already led to major traffic congestion in the area.
