Owner locks institution in protest over non-payment
TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: When students and teachers of government primary school, Colmorod-Navelim reported to school on Wednesday morning, they found to their shock and surprise the school doors locked.
The reason: The owner of the premises locked the school in protest against the Education Department’s repeated failure to pay the rent and to renew the lease agreement. In fact, exasperated over the casual attitude of the Education Department, owner Mathew Carneiro locked the school on Tuesday evening, saying the department made no efforts to clear his rent for the last several months nor renewed his lease agreement after it expired three months ago. “We had given our premises to run the school since the 60s. But the education department was always casual in their approach. Once they promised me to credit the rent in the bank, but in vain. They have never been punctual. The school is in bad shape. In March, I had made a letter to the department to clear the rent and renew the lease agreement. Since there was no reply, I locked one of the two doors on Monday. The teachers approached me on Tuesday with a promise to settle the payment. Since there was no response, I locked the second door yesterday evening,” he said.
Deputy Director of Education, South Zone Ramkrishna Samant could not be contacted on his cell phone despite repeated attempts, but the Director of Education Anil Powar said that the dispute arose over the non-payment of rent and renewal of lease agreement. “We will work out a solution to the problem by Thursday,” the Education Director said, even as sources said the students were being accommodated in a nearby government primary school as a stop gap arrangement.
