PANJIM: The newly elected 30-member council of the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) took the oath of office on Tuesday. Corporator Surendra Furtado and Lata Parekh were elected unopposed as Mayor and Deputy Mayor of the Corporation, respectively.
The elections to the city corporation were held on March 6, and Panjimites elected the panel backed by St Cruz MLA Atansio Monserrate by giving it 17 seats. BJP’s Panjim First panel with 13 councilors is in the opposition.
CCP Commissioner Sanjit Rodrigues administered the oath of office to the elected city representatives.
Addressing the House on being elected, Furtado said his thrust area will be to restore and consolidate the fiscal health of the corporation with State government support. “For this, I request those who have not paid their house tax and trade license taxes to pay it to help the council to serve better,” he said. Together, the outstanding dues of house tax and trade fees are around Rs 15 crore.
The Mayor appealed to residents of Panjim to refrain from littering. He said priority would be given for setting up a garbage plant, if not in Bainguinim, then at Taleigao as promised by Monserrate.
Furtado also laid emphasis on an immediate solution to the beautification of St Inez Creek, traffic management, being pedestrian friendly and other promises made in the election manifesto.
Meanwhile, the Corporation elected several committees. The standing committee headed by Furtado has Uday Madkaikar, Soraya Makhija, Asmita Kerkar, Vaidhei Naik and Shubham Chodankar as its members.
Councilor Dinesh Salgaocar will head the public works committee and have Lorraine Dias, Rupesh Halankar, Menino Da Cruz, Kanta Shirodkar and Shubhada Shirgaonkar as members.
CCP’s crucial market committee will be headed by Rahul Lotlikar and will have Margarida Fernandes, Shekhar Digvekar, Manisha Manerkar, Diksha Mainkar as members.
