TEAM HERALD
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MARGAO: Underlining the need for civic bodies to draft master plans to take care of their local requirements, Urban Development Minister, Francis D’Souza has said the municipal bodies in the state lack vision to work for the long-term interest of their cities, while saying that most of the Civic bodies have failed to implement the “signature projects” mooted by the previous government under the Golden Jubilee scheme.
Addressing the media on the sidelines of his visit to the Education Department at Margao on Tuesday, D’Souza said councilors appear more interested in the development in their wards instead of the city or town as a whole. “I have found even the municipal chairpersons are more interested in their wards than the town. The city fathers think of wards, they don’t think of town. They think small, they should have a vision for the whole town,” he added.
On the recovery front, D’Souza said most of the civic bodies can be self sufficient if they tap their local resources, but lamented these do not take the initiative on the recovery front under the pretext of manpower shortage.
When his attention was drawn to signature projects scheme mooted by the previous government, the Urban Development Minister said that the signature projects should help the public at large, adding that city fathers are interested in investing the funds in constructing gutters. “This signature project was proposed by the Art and Culture department under the golden jubilee scheme. The civic bodies could have implemented the schemes if they had the vision. But, most of them have deposited the funds in the banks,” he added.
