PANJIM: Blaming the Public Works Department (PWD) for carrying out the shoddy repair works of the Kala Academy, Leader of the Opposition Yuri Alemao on Tuesday demanded a judicial inquiry and white paper on the same.
Speaking to reporters after conducting an inspection of the building along with Congress president Amit Patkar, artists and government officials, Alemao said, “The Kala Academy has been destroyed. There is no aesthetic, nor acoustic. Lighting system too has been destroyed. There was paper leakage, leakage at Mopa Airport and at Kala Academy. It is shocking to see that blame-game is being played among the departments.”
He said, “Earlier when the building was constructed, artists were taken into confidence but today artistes are ignored and the reason is that this government does not like dissent. The Public Works Department (PWD) has executed this work costing crores of rupees without taking into confidence the artists for whom this building is a temple.”
“There is water leakage in Black Box, there is seepage in the walls, wires are wet, and the AC unit should have been isolated. This government is simply harassing the artistes,” he pointed out.
The Leader of the Opposition said that absolutely unprofessional work has been carried out while repairing the iconic building.
“This should not be a matter of any ego and should not be politicised. The issue is that today artistes are in the dark. We demand that the government issue a white paper on the issue as early as possible about how the Kala Academy was handed over to the PWD. This building was considered to be one of the wonders of Goa. But it has been put to shame. It looks like a monument of corruption. We demand a judicial inquiry into it,” he said and added that he will raise the issue in the Assembly.
