Pre-bid meeting on Sonsodo postponed
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, AUG 4
In a development that has raised eyebrows in the corridors of the Civic body, the Margao Municipal Council has postponed the pre-bid meeting with the consultants vying to bag the tender to monitor the work of installation of the waste processing and disposal facility at Sonsodo.
The pre-bid meet with the companies was suddenly postponed just hours before the meeting could take place, raising speculations whether the civic body had taken the decision at the behest of the High Powered Committee on Sonsodo headed by Chief Minister Digambar Kamat.
A total of four outstation professional consultants had responded to the Request for Proposal (RFP) invited by the Margao Municipality to monitor the construction of the landfill carried out at the garbage dump site in accordance with the MSW (Management & Handling) Rules 2000 and to certify successfully the work at the site.
Besides the Ahmedabad-based P U Asnani and Hyderabad-based Ramky Enviro Engineering ltd, Senes and Aecom had responded to the RFP, sources informed.
As per the RFP document, the Margao Municipality was scheduled to open the RFP on August 6 in the presence of the consultants and their representatives. However, with the latest development, wherein the civic body postponed the pre-bid meeting, the opening of the RFP will be delayed by a week, sources said.
When contacted, MMC Chief Officer Y B Tawde said the pre-bid meeting has been postponed in order to place the RFP documents before the high-powered committee headed by the chief minister. He said the pre-bid meeting would now take place only after the high powered committee meets and discusses the RFP document.
Tawde could not state when the high powered committee would be convened, saying the date would be decided after the ongoing Assembly session.
Sources in the know said the postponement of the RFP took place after the chief officer and Chairperson Savio Coutinho were told in clear terms not to go ahead with the proposal till the high powered committee peruses the RFP proposal.
The chief officer declined to comment when it was pointed out to him that the civic body is a self-governing body, with independent powers to decide on issues like inviting Request for Proposals.
Incidentally, the Margao Municipal Council had kicked up a row when it had appointed Ahmedabad-based consultant P U Asnani to evaluate the bids of Goa-based Fomento and Hyderabad-based Ramky Enviro Engineering to set up the waste treatment facility, besides construction of a landfill at the garbage dumping site at Sonsodo.
