Team Herald
MARGAO: Margao can expect to get rid of its parking woes by May next year, but unfortunately the Sonsoddo garbage dump site is going to haunt the town as there appears no solution forthcoming.
Margao Municipal Council (MMC) chairperson Dr Babita Prabhudessai disclosed that the Sangli-based company which bagged the contract to construct the multi-level parking lot has now agreed to undertake the work and is expected to make the payment of Performance Guarantee on Wednesday.
“The Goods and Service Tax evaluation took nearly five-and-a-half months as there were over 300 items which needed to be assessed and the file kept moving from one department to another,” she said, heaving a sigh of relief that the matter has been finally resolved and expects the work to start soon.
She said Town and Country Planning Minister Vijai Sardessai will do whatever it needs to be done to get the parking lot ready by May 30, the date he has fixed for its inauguration and admitted that in hindsight it was a blessing that the MMC meeting on August 13 was adjourned due to lack of quorum.
“It is indeed unfortunate for some people who have been chairpersons in the past to merely make statements blaming someone despite knowing the reality and why this project was delayed,” she said responding to Savio Coutinho’s statement lambasting the Council for not starting the work for three years now.
On Sonsoddo issue, she admitted that as solution to the dumpsite will continue to elude, this problem will continue for some time.
It may be recalled that the government spent crores of rupees on bio-remedial segregation of waste last year which reduced the dump significantly.
However, this year it was proposed to try out the black hole technology that would get rid of the waste quickly. But when the councillors went to see how this technology was working, they were totally dissatisfied and resolved against using it.
“So until we find some viable solution to deal with the dump yard, it will continue to remain there,” she said expressing hope that the Fomento Green will now undertake the management of the daily garbage collection.
Following a direction from the Arbitration Committee, the MMC has already paid Fomento Green Rs 2.4 crore towards the infrastructure at Sonsoddo. “What remains to be dealt with is the waste management, part for which the addendum to the MoU has to be signed at the earliest,” she said.
Disclosing that Fomento Green has raised certain issues about the addendum to the MoU she said the matter is now pending with the respective advocates who will come to terms as soon as possible so that it can be signed.
“We have already started collecting segregated waste in Ward No 1 and will soon move to other wards,” she said while lamenting that the people are not co-operating and most of them refuse to segregate their waste.
“People’s argument is that they are paying garbage tax and therefore the council should segregate the waste. I feel so long as people do not realise that waste management is each individual’s responsibility, this problem will keep haunting us,” she said.
She said Panjim was lucky that it had some NGOs that were involved in educating the people on segregating waste. “Patricia took a personal interest in it and that is why they could be successful but we do not have any such person coming to help us,” she lamented.
