MARGAO: Former chairperson of Margao Municipal Council, Savio Coutinho, has sought the intervention of MMC Chief Officer in getting the banks and financial institutions pay self help groups engaged in door-to-door waste collection.
Coutinho feared that the non payment of door-to-door waste collection fees by the banking institutions will result in the collapse of the door-to-door waste system.
In his letter addressed to the Chief Officer, he demanded that the civic body render assistance and support to the self help groups in respect to the collection of fees from various waste generators. He made a specific reference to the non payment of fees by the banking institutions, expressing shock that many banks in Margao are not paying the waste collection fees on the pretext that they have no waste to dispose. “Apart from waste collection fees, the MMC is also losing lakhs of rupees in revenue as more than 100 branches of different banks/financial institutions are operating without trade licenses. Since most of these branches are operating from rented premises, house tax revision would enrich the civic coffers by lakhs of rupees,” he said.
Coutinho recalled that the civic body had been successful in getting several banks under the trade tax during his tenure, while lamenting that there are less than 70 trade licenses issued by the Council to different banks and financial institutions, while the actual number could be well over 150.
He warned that the waste collection system would suffer and collapse unless the Chief Officer intervenes and get the banking institutions pay their dues to the civic body.
