PANAJI
Aam Aadmi Party Vice President Valmiki Naik, AAP Taleigao Assembly in-charge Cecille Rodrigues and a team of AAP volunteers on Wednesday exposed how IFFI tenders are fixed, demanding an answer within 24 hours.
A press release states AAP vice president Valmiki Naik said, "PWD had put a work order of external painting worth Rs 70 lakh. The tenders should have been submitted by 3 pm on Tuesday and this tender was supposed to be open on Wednesday, at 11 am. The tender was supposed to be awarded to the lowest bidder. But the problem here is that all the work of external painting has been completed. Our simple question is what is the work left, for money to be spent on."
"Our simple request to the CEO, Vice Chairman of ESG, which is a parent agency of IFFI, was to cancel the tenders. They should have written a letter to the PWD ordering cancellation of tenders. IFFI venues, which are government properties, are painted completely without the work order. Surprisingly, the vice chairman, managing director and the CEO are not aware of this. CEO Dr Tariq Thomas assured us that he will send a letter to the PWD. But, we don't believe in assurances of BJP office-bearers. We demand an investigation into the matter and want an answer within 24 hours. Otherwise, we will hold Dharna in front of CM's house to seek an answer," said Naik.
AAP's Taleigao assembly in-charge Cecille Rodrigues said, "Rules are only for common people. Government is blatantly using their power. IFFI is an international level festival and the government is busy making money out of it".
AAP joint secretary Sunil Signapurkar said, "So far we have met the Executive engineer of PWD, vice chairman of ESG, Managing Director of ESG and CEO of ESG but none are aware of it, which is strange as they are working in the same area where the work has been done. This incident has proved that what former governor of Goa Satya Pal Malik's statement about the corruption in the state government is true. I request PWD officers to cancel the tenders."
