TEAM HERALD
bureau@herald-goa.com
VASCO: Keeping aside their party differences, all three Goan MPs worked together to ensure that the office of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) Project Implementation Unit (PIU) was not shifted from Vasco to Dharwad.
NHAI had started its PIU at Headland-Sada at the time of construction of the four-lane highway from Verna to the Harbour. However, it is learnt that NHAI wanted to shift the unit to Dharwad and retain the premises as a site office only.
According to a source, the shifting of the unit could have resulted in many of the Goans employed there losing their jobs.
“After the employees came to know about NHAI’s decision to shift the PIU to Dharwad and retain the premises as site office, they approached South Goa Lok Sabha MP Francisco Sardinha for his intervention in the matter,” informed the source.
“Sardinha took up the matter with Minister of Road Transport and Highways Dr C P Joshi and managed to convince him and stopped the shifting of the PIU to Dharwad, thus saving the jobs of the employees,” added the source.
The source further informed that even Rajya Sabha MP Shantaram Naik and North Goa Lok Sabha MP Shripad Naik approached Union Minister Dr Joshi and requested him to retain NHAI’s PIU office at Headland Sada.
When contacted, COP Furtado, manager technical NHAI/PIU at Headland Sada, informed that NHAI’s PIU had been retained at Headland-Sada due to the efforts of the three Goan MPs.
