MAPUSA: Mapusa Municipal Council Chief Officer Sitaram Gawas on Thursday directed the sopo contractor to stop collecting sopo from the Mapusa market as the contractor failed to pay the amount to the municipality.
Chief Officer Gawas said,”The contractor is supposed to pay Rs 11 lakh to the municipality plus the GST amount. He has also failed to pay the October month amount and the cheque given by him has bounced.”
“The municipality had asked the contractor to pay the dues and sign a new agreement. However, he failed to do so, resulting, the municipality being forced to take this step. We have served him notice and informed the public not to pay him any money and on a temporary basis, our staff will collect the sopo,” he said.
It may be recalled that during the last ordinary council meeting, the opposition panel had raised the issue of sopo and also highlighted that the contractor is collecting sopo illegally since there is no signed agreement between the municipality and contractor. The panel had asked the council to take immediate action on the contractor.
Councillor Sashank Narvekar said, “There is no signed agreement between the municipality and contractor. The security deposit which is prerequisite is not paid by the contractor. We had urged the council to take immediate action but it took 25 days for the council to act. The contractor is not ready to pay the dues and instead visits the municipality and acts arrogantly.”
Councillor Kamal D’Souza said, “There is a loss of around Rs 42 lakh to the municipality and earlier Chief Officer Clen Madeira is responsible for it.”
