A large number of market vendors gathered at the meeting hall to protest the auction, but the chief officer asked them to leave.
Speaking to the press, PMC Chairperson Radhika Naik stated that the Director of Municipal Administration (DMA) had given the municipality an approval letter for auctioning the contract, and accordingly, the process would be begin afresh.
The sopo-collection contract was supposed to be for a seven-month period, but as no bidder had come forward, PMC decided to restart the auction, this time with a six-and-a-half month contract. A notice of the same will be published in newspapers.
Despite protests from the market vendors, the sopo rates will remain Rs 12 per sq mts for market shed vendors and Rs 6 for open market vendors. PMC also gave the vendors until September 25 to pay the sopo fees for June, July and August. The market vendors have already deposited around Rs 4 lakh for the same.
PMC also decided to set up a fuel-generating project at its garbage disposal site. Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation will construct the project, for which 300 sq mts of land will be made available.
