TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: Already under pressure over the estimated tender amount for the opening and closing ceremonies for the Lusofonia games, the government is negotiating with two event management companies in a bid to reduce the rates. A total of four companies had bid; but two got eliminated.
The Lusofonia games are already under pressure with a large section of Goans questioning the statement of the chief minister on his seriousness of holding the games and whether he (CM) was only doing it out of a sense of obligation after he was forced into it after commitments were given by the previous government.
The games opening and closing ceremonies had drawn flak after a tender which the “ceremonies Functional Area C/o: Directorate of Art & Culture, Panaji Goa” was invited on behalf of the Lusofonia Games Organising Committee.
Request for Proposal (RFP) in two bid system namely Technical Bid and Commercial Bid from eligible bidders for Event Management Firm for Events for run up to the Games, Opening Ceremony & Closing Ceremony of the Lusofonia Games, Goa-2013, says:
“Event management firm for events for run up to the games, opening ceremony & closing ceremony of the Lusofonia Games, Goa-2013,” should not exceed Rs 30 crore. EMD is Rs one crore fifty lakh.
This had forced the chief minister to insist that he believed the actual expenditure would be around Rs 15-20 crore.
However, even as the slated event is so high the actual Goan sportsmen for whom the games could have been an opportunity to participate in an international competition have been forced to take a back seat with the various associations forcing coaches to certify that there are no sportsmen in the state to take part and – even after the chief minister says that his heart is not in the games, his colleagues are insisting that the Goan contingent get the medals and they don’t mind getting players from outside the state.
Also the rains have delayed the work and the track at Bambolim is likely to create a major problem.
Sources say this could be the reason for the statement by the chief minister, given his initial enthusiasm and assurances to all about the games.
