PANJIM: Surendra Furtado will take over as the Mayor of Panjim on Tuesday after he won the CCP election under the Panjim City Development Front of Antonio Babush Monserrate. Herald met Furtado and got his views on his plans for the capital city of Goa.
HERALD: What are your topmost priorities?
FURTADO: The only priority before me is to make the Panjim city clean and garbage free. I want to restore the city to its original beauty. Currently it is completely in a mess. You see dry waste piled up, debris, etc, everywhere. When Centre is providing crores of rupees to implement its Swacch Bharat Abhiyan, it is our responsibility to make Panjim clean and swacch.
Herald: The first and immediate challenge before your new council is to clear the Smart City proposal and send it for approval by April 15. How are you going to tackle this?
FURTADO: I am not aware of the exact reason as to why the proposal got rejected. I will have to sit with the Commissioner to know as to how we can go ahead with it. Let the proposal come before us.
HERALD: The prime reason for rejection was the council resolution not to fund the project. Centre was very clear that 50 per cent of the State share has to be borne by local body.
FURTADO: When you speak of 50 per cent, it means around Rs 250 to 300 crores. You tell me, does CCP have funds in its coffers? How are we going to raise the funds? By taxing the citizens? This is not going to happen. Citizens are already reeling under heavy taxation and inflation; we cannot burden them with more taxes. I am not in favour of it.
If the local body has to fund, then let the State given funds to CCP and then CCP will contribute. It is a fact that we have no money and we cannot deny this. We cannot make proposals on assumptions.
HERALD: So, will you recommend State government to go slow on the project and can think of getting in the second phase?
FURTADO: The State was in a hurry to get the project selected as the election was around the corner and it wanted to fool the voters. But it did not happen. So now I feel, we should wait for some time and work out avenues for revenue generation.
I, along with Commissioner and MLA Atanasio Monserrate, will approach Central Government to treat Goa as ‘special case’ and exempt it from the condition of local body funding.
Or, we can drop the idea of Smart City and work on the existing plans like Comprehensive Mobility Plan and the plan drafted by LKS, which also speaks about various ways to make the city Smart. We already have good plans in hand and there is no need for another proposal.
HERALD: One of the initiatives taken by you to generate revenue was recovery of pending Market dues and signing of lease agreement with legal vendors. Will you pursue with it?
FURTADO: See, I have done my work. The ball is now in Commissioner’s Court. I will extend him full support in recovering the dues which run between Rs 13 to Rs 14 crore.
HERALD: When, you talk about extending support to the Commissioner, you have always been at loggerheads with him?
FURTADO: See, I was never at loggerheads with him. Just that I was against the falling for political pressure. I don’t exactly blame him. I feel it’s time that we all — Commissioner, MLAs of Panjim, Taleigao and St Cruz and I join hands together for betterment of the City.
HERALD: Being a former Congress candidate for Panjim, how do you react to Monserrate’s plans to contest from Panjim?
FURTADO: I welcome it. And I assure to provide my fullest support to Monserrate. I will visit door to door campaigning for him. He has backed me as Mayor and now it’s my responsibility that I back him in Panjim.
I will also ensure that I take Congress back “home”.
