Team Herald
MARGAO: Shadow Council for Margao (SCM) on Monday demanded a parade of the workers engaged by the Margao Municipal Council (MMC), through two private agencies for door-to-door waste collection.
Addressing media persons SCM convenor Savio Coutinho said they have revealed that two agencies namely Bapu Environmental Social Service Agency and Golden Globe Agency are billing the Margao Municipal Council for supposedly providing over 150 workers and draining the municipal treasury to the tune of nearly Rs 25 lakh per month.
He said the Council cannot absolve from its responsibility into verifying the number of workers engaged through the two agencies as the agencies are paid on per head per day basis. The Council for obvious reasons seems to conveniently ignore the complaints of people around the town who have issues over the irregular waste collection, though the agencies get fully paid.
“We have evidence as to how the agencies rotate the same workers in different areas, but charge the Council on per day per head basis”, Savio charged.
“Previously, we had exposed a scam wherein one of the agencies provided only 30 workers per day but billed the council for 45 workers. This amounted to nearly Rs two lakh extra bill per month. The MMC did a mere formality of filing a police complaint but no action was taken against the agency that tried to defraud the municipal treasury”, he alleged.
SCM said it is shocked to know that the same agency, whose services were terminated in Fatorda, found favour in Margao and was rewarded with a bigger job of providing 65 workers as compared to the earlier 45 workers.
