TEAM HERALD
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MERCES: After a lengthy delay of several years, commencement of work on the Merces ground raised the hopes of villagers and sportspersons that their dream of having a ground in their village would come true.
However, the wait has been further delayed as Directorate of Sports and Youth Affairs officials have declared the surface as unsuitable for playing and have directed the Sports Authority of Goa to get the work re-done within two months so that sportspersons from Merces can start using the ground at the earliest.
The decision was arrived after two inspections of the ground were conducted, one by DSYA’s Director V M Prabhudessai on Wednesday, and the other by DSYA’s assistant director of projects S K Haldankar, SAG’s executive engineer Kuriakose T Xavier in the presence of former St Cruz MLA Victor Gonsalves and Merces Sarpanch Walter D’Souza on Thursday.
Expressing displeasure over the uneven and hard surface, Prabhudessai informed that he has already directed the SAG officials that the work on the surface needs to be re-done since it is not suitable for playing.
“I have inspected the ground for over half an hour,” he said and added that he has given a two-month deadline to the SAG officials to complete the work.
On his part, SAG’s executive engineer Kuriakose Xavier said he will submit a report of the inspection to executive director Sandeep Jacques and accordingly further action will be taken.
Merces Sarpanch Walter D’Souza, at whose behest the inspections were undertaken, expressed displeasure over the long delays in completion of the ground, which he said is testing the patience of the villagers and sportspersons alike.
“For past several years, our dream of having a playground in our village is far from turning into reality,” he said.
