TEAM HERALD
MARGAO: In a first, a few residents of Margao and some NGO representatives walked into the council room and attended the special meeting of the Margao Municipal Council on Tuesday.
Shouting slogans, they termed the council meeting illegal and took objection to various errors of the MMC. Some of the people were also told to stop involving themselves in the council discussions.
MMC Chairperson Arthur D’Silva said they have no locus standi in participating in the meet. However, they managed to get the attention of the chairperson for a full hour for discussions after the meet.
Advocate Rajeev Gomes termed the meet illegal as no notice was put up on the MMC notice board and some councillors were not sent notices.
The councillors came under fire from the beginning for attempts to dislodge the people from speaking at the meet. The people expressed their anger as the council took almost an hour to finish just one point from the agenda. “Is this meeting legal? Why was there no notice put on the notice board? Is there any time limit for the discussion?” Adv Gomes asked the chairperson.
Sparks flew when in a fit of anger Councillor Bertha Cardozo criticised the group of people and they in return reiterated saying “Chor, Chor, Shame, Shame”. The group later condemned the chairperson for his high-handed nature in handling an argument with a woman.
The people in the audience demanded an assurance from the chairperson that he would clear the primary works of the council first before getting luxuries for the council. “I will re-discuss with the staff and the councillors and scrap the plan if it’s not needed,” D’Silva said.
The participation of people in the discussion apparently does not fit in the bylaws of the MMC but the message was loud and clear that the people are now tired of the affairs of the MMC.
