the goan I network
PANAJI
The Public Works Department owes a whopping Rs 729 crores to its contractors for works executed since 2015 indicating a huge cash crunch in the government department with the largest budget.
Information furnished by the State government in the Goa legislative assembly said that various amounts payable to contractors who have already executed some 700-odd works including hot-mixing of roads, building retaining walls and constructing platforms at village ponds to facilitate Ganesh idol immersion were pending.
In most cases the reason for payments to be delayed proffered by the department was “awaiting allocation of funds.
In some other cases, the bills furnished by the contractors were being scrutinized and in yet others the bills are scrutinized and payments are “in process”.
Considered one of the most corrupt of the government departments, the PWD accounts for most cases of corruption booked in the State involving engineers and even politicians.
As recently as a week ago, a junior engineer attached to the department’s Sakhali division was booked in a case of disproportionate assets with a bungalow and property in Belgaum owned by him, attached.
The most high-profile case in recent years however is the Louis Berger bribery case in which former chief minister Digambar Kamat and NCP MLA Churchill Alemao, have been named as the accused. While Alemao was arrested and has spent months in jail before securing bail, Kamat got bail without being arrested.
The cases were booked against the duo and engineers of the PWD after the American Company pleaded guilty before the United States Justice Department and revealed that it had paid bribes to secure contracts related to the JICA-funded projects in Goa.
Both Kamat and Alemao are also facing proceedings under laws against money laundering launched by the Enforcement Directorate which has also attached immovable property owned by them.
They are slated to appear before the Special Court in Mapusa on August 28 in relation to the ED case.
With eye on 2019, BJP ropes in Bhandari Samaj leader
MARGAO The Bhandari Samaj community is hogging all the limelight on the news these days with its leaders making a case for a chief minister from this section of the Goan society. And, rightfully, political parties are jostling to woo the community ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, with Bharatiya Janata Party in the forefront as it has roped in Margao-based Bhandari Samaj leader Sunil Naik, son of former Shiroda MLA K B Naik. This could mean,…
