Team Herald
MARGAO: A suspicion has cropped up within the Margao Municipal Council (MMC) that a scam running into around Rs 24 lakh was committed in respect of the Holy Spirit Church fair held at the SGPDA ground, Margao.
MMC Chairperson Babita Angle was suggestive that the scam could have happened due to the inability of the council to allot stalls and collect taxes from them. She said that the council had to select a contractor at the last moment as the High Court had placed many restrictions on holding the fair on the footpaths along the national highway.
She said that the MMC had to do a serious balancing act in organizing the fair so as not to violate the High Court order. As the MMC had very little time to find a suitable place for the fair, it had to be held on the SGPDA ground. Further, due to lack of time, the work of allotting stalls and collecting taxes had to be outsourced to a contractor; though all these years, the MMC was doing it on its own.
It is pertinent to note that no tender was floated for awarding the work of allotting stalls and collecting taxes from them to a contractor.
Since no tender was floated for selecting a contractor, the MMC technical section, now, fears that a vigilance-like inquiry may be initiated into the selection of the contractor. They also fear they might face the consequences for not following the tender procedure.
As many as 500 stalls were put up at the fair, which brings in a huge amount of revenue to the municipality in the form of tax. Sources said the contractor paid the municipality Rs 12 lakh as taxes, and the Rs 11 lakh as rent to the SGPDA for using its land.
However, sources even within the municipality suspect that money collected from the stalls could be much more than what was paid to the municipality and the SGPDA. Some sources suspect that around Rs 24 lakh was collected over and above what was paid to the MMC and SGPDA.
When contacted MMC officials were tight-lipped as to who was responsible for the alleged scam and who benefited from it.
It may be recalled that the High Court, after being approached by Green Goa Foundation five years ago, ruled against holding the fair on the footpaths of a national highway. It had also suggested five alternate sites, including the SGPDA ground, for the fair. Subsequently, the MMC and MLAs of Margao and Fatorda unanimously passed a resolution to hold the fair at the SGPDA ground.
