MARGAO: The private contractor who used to handle the collection and management of garbage from Raia village panchayat claimed that they were forced to stop the collection of waste as they were not paid for the past few months.

On Thursday, Clinton Vaz of Recycle Waste management informed Herald that their work order ended without any efforts for renewal despite reminders sent to the panchayat, as well as to the secretary and sarpanch.

“We were forced to stop collection of waste as we received the payment for three of the four months only last week. We understand that the delay was caused due to the panchayat election process but it was not possible for us to continue to provide our services for such a long period. With the fuel and minimum wage hike, it is no longer possible to offer the existing price for the work we do,” said Vaz, whose firm manages the waste from 6 panchayats and one municipality in South Goa.

“As the village is spread over a large area, it requires five trips with two drivers and four staff to collect around four to five tonnes of dry waste from the entire village each month. This waste is then processed at our MRF and then two to three tonnes of rejects are sent to the Saligao treatment plant for its onward disposal,” he said, adding that the firm bills the panchayat Rs 41,000 per month for the proper disposal of their waste.