Govt to relocate ‘Waste to Art’ Park at Caranzalem

Team Herald

PANJIM: Bowing to the requests of Campal residents, the government has now decided to relocate the ‘Waste to Art’ Park at Caranzalem along the Miramar-Dona Paula road.

Earlier in the day, the Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) withdrew the tender for development of the park which was proposed to come up at the Bhagwan Mahavir Bal Vihar, Campal, in Panjim. The estimated cost of the project was around Rs 9 crore. 

When contacted, Waste Management Minister Atanasio alias Babush Monserrate said that bowing to the requests of Campal residents, he has decided to relocate the ‘Waste to Art’ Park at Caranzalem along the Miramar-Dona Paula road.

“A few days ago, I had a meeting with the Campal residents, who expressed their apprehensions over the proposed project as they complained that they have been facing hardship due to various activities including film festival as many people use the lanes and bylanes for parking causing nuisance besides making it difficult for the residents to move out of their homes,” he said.

“Therefore, the ‘Waste to Art’ park will now be relocated at Caranzalem,” he said adding that “I will not allow the central funds to go unutilised.” 

Earlier, GWMC, which withdrew the tender for development of ‘Waste-to-Art’ Park in a notice said, “The tender stands cancelled/withdrawn with immediate effect. GWMC shall process the refund of Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) at the earliest.” 

The Corporation had in October floated a tender worth Rs 8,92,90,798 for design, engineering and development of ‘Waste to Art Park’. Approximately 200 kg of scrap will be used for creating the park. 

Herald had reported that the artists had expressed displeasure over the manner in which the tender was floated. The artists bidding would have had to deposit earnest money deposit (EMD) of Rs 17,85,816 which they felt most Goan artists will not be able to afford. 

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao welcomed the GWMC’s decision to withdraw the tender for the ‘Waste to Art’ Park. He hoped the funds of Rs 8.92 crore would now be spent on promotion of local artists.

The cancellation of the tender is a victory of Goan artists, he said.