TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: Margao Municipal Council will elect a new Chairperson on Tuesday, but the Civic body has been virtually functioning without a full-time Chief Officer and a Municipal Engineer since the last couple of months, throwing the Civic administration out of gear.
While Chief Officer Y B Tawde is holding additional charge of the Mormugao Municipal Council, Vinay Desai is holding charge as acting Municipal Engineer. The Municipal administration is hit hard in the absence of a full-time Chief Officer, with Tawde shuttling between Vasco and Margao to keep the administration going.
In fact, it will be three months on June 7, that the A Class Margao Civic body has been functioning without a full time Chief Officer. City Fathers in private admitted that a new chairperson may not help the Civic body to put in place a plan of action unless the government posts a full-time chief officer. “Administration has hit a low in recent times. You cannot expect a responsive administration when the chief officer shuttles between Vasco and Margao on a daily basis,” remarked a City Father.
Incidentally, the government has set July 1 as the deadline for the Margao Municipal Council to start door-to-door waste collection in the commercial capital; however, councillors and officials alike are sceptical about the project in view of absence of an administrative head.
The MMC technical section, which has been under a constant scanner of the citizens over the years, following allegations of corruption, has no full-time municipal engineer. Since the Director of Municipal Administration, Elvis Gomes transferred the then municipal engineer, there’s been no replacement till date, with the day-to-day affairs being looked after by acting ME Vinay Desai.
The technical section, sources said, is also functioning without junior engineers. It is learnt that though the sanctioned strength of junior engineers is five, there’s only one full-time JE presently functioning in the Civic body, with two JEs holding additional charges of other Civic bodies, while two posts of JEs are lying vacant for some time now.
Administration has hit a low in recent times. You cannot expect a responsive administration when the chief officer shuttles between Vasco and Margao on a daily basis
