MARGAO: Exactly a year after the Margao Municipal Council floated the controversial e-tender in haste, the civic body on Monday finally decided to re-tender the works, claiming that the main file pertaining to the e-tender has gone missing.
The decision capped a yearlong controversy after a section of city fathers cried foul over the duplication of works.
The municipal administration headed by Chief Officer Narayan Sawant and municipal engineers stood their ground as a group of councillors comprising of Chairperson Gonzaco Rebello, Arthur D’Silva, Raju Naik and Laxmikant Kamat strongly rooted in favour of the execution of works under the e-tender. Councillors Arthur and Raju demanded to know why the civic body has not executed the works when even the Urban Development Minister Francis D’Souza has given the go ahead to the non-duplicated works.
Announcement by engineer Vishant Naik that the main file has gone missing triggered uproar with Arthur demanding a probe, even as the engineer said the file was handled by the former chief officer.
Chairperson Gonzaco was frantically trying to find out whether the civic body can create a new key to open the e-tender to get access to the comparative statements.
After much discussion, though councillors led by Arthur were insisting on the execution of the non-controversial works listed in the e-tender, the council finally resolved to re-tender the controversial e-tender to avoid any legal complications.
Meanwhile, the civic body has decided to seek more details and conduct a thorough study before given the go-ahead signal to GSUDA to set up a plastic waste fuel plant at Sonsodo. During discussions, Councillors contended that since the MMC has inked an agreement with Fomento Green, it would not be possible to earmark land admeasuring 12,000 sq mts for the proposed plant.
Councillors also demanded to know additional details, including a power point presentation, before granting approval.
