TEAM HERALD
CALANGUTE: Ongoing rivalry between Calangute MLA Michael Lobo and Calangute Panch Joseph Sequeira came to the fore yet again, when the two leaders sparred over dumping of garbage by a truck belonging to Parra Citizens Forum (PCF) at the garbage dumping site in Calangute on Saturday.
While an infuriated Sequeira described the act as “dadagiri” of the Calangute MLA and the irresponsible attitude of the so-called leaders of Parra, Lobo insisted that the government is the owner of the site and nobody could stop garbage from being dumped at the Calangute site.
The Calangute panchayat has filed a complaint with the Calangute police, accusing PCF of illegally dumping garbage at the site and the Comunidade of Calangute is meeting on Sunday to decide on the garbage treatment plant.
Speaking to Herald, Sequeira said that a garbage truck (GA-03-N-1955) belonging to PCF “illegally and forcibly dumped garbage in front of the entrance gate to Calangute garbage dumping site, since they were not permitted to enter the dumping site.”
“Labourers on the truck informed our workers at the site that they were dumping the garbage here as instructed by Lobo.”
“This is sheer “dadagiri” by the elected representative from Parra along with the Parra Panchayat and PCF. Except for the Calangute Panchayat, nobody has the right to dump garbage at the site as per directives of the High Court.”
“We have put a gate as per court directives and no dumping is allowed after 6 pm. Tomorrow, everyone will come and dump their garbage at the Calangute site, creating a mess. We will be filing a complaint against the PCF under the Goa Non-Biodegradable Control Act, 1996,” said Sequeira.
When contacted, Lobo insisted that no one can stop the dumping of garbage at the Calangute site as it belonged to the State government, as Section 4 and Section 17 of Land Acquisition Act had been applied.
“We will not allow anyone to stop garbage dumping at the site and the government will take over the site for segregation and vermi-composting. We will accept garbage from Parra, Arpora, Anjuna, Nerul, etc, till the garbage treatment plant is set up at the site. We have initiated the process for garbage treatment plant and nobody can stop it now,” he said.
When asked if dumping in front of the entrance to the Calangute dumping site was acceptable, Lobo replied, “Earlier, we used to take our truck at the site and segregate garbage and bring back the plastic. However, the truck was not allowed to enter the site and so, they dumped the garbage at the entrance gate.”
Refuting Lobo’s claims, Sequeira said there is no such document which makes the government the land owners of the site.
“We have been following the High Court directives to allow dumping of garbage from 6 am to 6 pm for Calangute village and we have kept away unauthorized dumping by erecting a gate.
A Calangute Police Team headed by PSI Nitin Halarnkar later visited the site and were shown the CCTV footage of the incident.
