CURCHOREM: The Curchorem-Cacora Municipal Council on Tuesday criticised the move of the government for allowing people from other States to enter Goa without checking for COVID-19 infection.
Speaking after the council meeting, Chairperson Balkrishna (Pinty) Hodarkar in the presence of his council members said that they have deplored the decision of the government for allowing people from other States without checking them at the border.
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“The practice of checking the people coming from other States after charging them was stopped by the government and they are allowed to enter freely in our State by asking them to be in home quarantine. This decision is unacceptable to us as we cannot risk our life,” said Hodarkar and demanded that the decision be revoked and mandatory checking each and every person coming from other States be made compulsory as without it one cannot identify whether COVID positive or not.
The council also decided to request the Director of Municipal Administration (DMA) to allow them to keep as it is the garbage fees fixed by the council instead of increasing it as per DMA’s proposal.
“The DMA proposed uniform garbage fees for all the municipalities as per their categories and sent to municipalities for their consideration and suggestions and accordingly our council has decided to request the DMA to allow to charge the current fees as it was fixed after taking all the stakeholders into confidence,” informed Hodarkar.
Although, the Ministry of Home Affairs still not permitted to allow handcarts to conduct business, according to chairperson the council has taken a decision to allow them to give take away services from their allotted venue.
“The council has taken a decision to allow those handcart owners who are having a FDA licence to give home delivery or take away services,” said Hodarkar and informed that from June 1 no fish mongers or vegetables vendors will not allowed to seat on the streets but would be directed to occupy their respective sheds in the market.
According to Chief Officer Ajay Gaude, the special meeting which was attended by local MLA and Power Minister Nilesh Cabral was convened to deliberate and decide the proposal sent by the DMA to fix the garbage fees as per Goa Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Bye-Laws 2020.
Meanwhile, President of Curchorem Merchant Association Rocha Pereira welcomed the decision and thanked the council for moving a resolution to keep the old rates for garbage collection fees as it was fixed after consulting their association and other stakeholders.
