Team Herald
PANJIM: The Kala Rakhonn Manch demanded a white paper regarding the renovation on iconic Kala Academy building and an investigation into the works and expenditure under a retired judge.
A delegation of the Manch met Chief Minister Pramod Sawant at the Mantralaya, Porvorim on Monday. Principal Secretary to CM, Secretary (Education) Prasad Lolayekar and officials of GSIDC, PWD, Art and Culture and Kala Academy were present.
After meeting the Chief Minister, Manch member Devidas Amonkar said that for the last two and half months they had been seeking an appointment with the Chief Minister to discuss the issue threadbare. “We met the Chief Minister and discussed the matter. Our main issue was the partial collapse of the Kala Academy building and to prepare a white paper. We made the same demand and requested the Chief Minister to constitute a committee under a retired Judge.”
According to Amonkar, the Chief Minister has agreed to constitute a committee consisting of artistes and citizens to look into the renovation work, by Friday. He also said that the government had already received a report from the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC) while, a report will also be submitted by the IIT.
Senior journalist Sandesh Prabhudesai said, “We told CM that in the name of renovation, there was demolition. We demanded that not a government officer but an eminent person be appointed to head the committee.”
He said that once the committee is constituted, it will inspect the building within a month and prepare a report.
The Chief Minister told the delegation that the renovation work was carried out at a cost of Rs 70 crore and that no extra cost will be borne by the government. As far as sub-standard work is concerned, the contractor will be asked to undertake repair work as per the defect liability period.