Where’s consultant, Asnani, roped in to certify work at Sonsodo site?
TEAM HERALD
MARGAO: The Margao Municipality is hit by a row of sorts over payments due to Fomento Green, as the company has knocked the doors of the civic body to clear its payments amounting to Rs 2.6 crore.
By its letter dated August 17, Fomento has maintained that it has already completed more than 70 per cent of the work on the garbage treatment plant at Sonsodo. The company has drawn attention of the civic body to the relevant provision in the concession agreement mandating the civic body to clear the installments upon completion of 40 per cent and 70 per cent of the work.
Controversy over the payments came to the fore after the sanitation section prepared a note wherein the sanitary inspector suggested that the payments can be cleared by the civic body after seeking opinion of the consultant appointed to certify actual work put in by Fomento at the site. He also suggested that the matter be referred to the municipal lawyer to seek his opinion on the payments.
Incidentally, the municipal engineer has pointed out that Fomento’s bill can be cleared only after work on the garbage treatment plant is certified by the consultant appointed by the civic body for the purpose. Chief Officer Deepali Naik, on the other hand, has maintained that the matter should be referred to the municipal lawyers for opinion before a decision is taken on the payments.
Municipal officials maintained that the contradictory stand of the Municipal Chief Officer and the municipal engineer has left them confused how to go about the work.
So far, the municipality has released a payment of Rs 1.30 crore to Fomento Green as initial installment, but the company has maintained that though it has already completed more than 70 per cent of the work, the civic body is yet to clear the next two installments of Rs 1.30 crore each, amounting to Rs 2.60 crore.
What’s interesting to note is that though the civic body had engaged Ahmedabad-based consultant P U
Asnani to assist the municipality in certifying work carried out by Fomen
to Green at Sonsodo, nothing has been heard from
the waste management expert till date, further delaying payments due to
Fomento Green.
