PORVORIM: Amidst the euphoria over the Mapusa Democratic Front’s victory in the municipal elections, the MDF and Deputy Chief Minister and Francis D’Souza are mindful of the task ahead of them vis-à-vis fulfilling the promises made by them to the electorate.
That the deputy chief minister was in grip of the task ahead of him was revealed when said, “Now the expectations of the people will be very high”, while addressing the press after the results were declared.
Some of the promises in the MDF manifesto are: to ensure speedy implementation of the town planning scheme for downtown Mapusa-Bodgeswar Plaza for the integrated expansion of a central business district; and implementation of a master plan for upgrading the municipal market.
’s infrastructure.
, including augmentation of the drainage network, provision of service ducts, fire hydrant network, a CCTV network, adequate illumination, etc; formulating a traffic management plan to ease congestion in the city, tackling the menace of stray dogs and cattle in public places; ensure speedy implementation of infrastructure projects such as the State and inter-city bus stand, office complex in Old Asilo hospital, restoration of Old Asilo (Heritage Building) and other municipal buildings.
Outgoing councillor Advocate Subhash Narveker stated that during the last five years, several resolutions were adopted in the council meetings, but no action was taken by the council on many resolutions. He said, “No deadline was fixed for the completion of the projects undertaken. It was resolved in the council meeting to send the master plan of the market to Goa State Urban Development Agency for implementation, but it is now lying in cold storage. Nobody knows when the new bus stand and Ravindra Bhavan will come into existence. Most of the projects are in the pipeline and are waiting for years to see the light of day.”
A merchant, on condition of anonymity, stated that the Mapusa Municipal Council could not solve the garbage problem that is haunting Mapsekars for years. He added, “”Every year, the market gets flooded during the rains; shops are gutted in fires and the stray cattle menace continues. Will MDF be able to solve these issues or will it forget its promises with the passage of time?”
