MARGAO
With a garbage management system eluding the SGPDA market, raising a stink in the mega market complex, Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai on Wednesday set a deadline on the SGPDA and Margao Municipal Council to immediately sort out their logistics issues failing which he has threatened to engage a private contractor to do the job.
Sardesai further warned that he would be constrained to appeal to Fatordekars not to pay the taxes to the Margao Municipal Council in the event the piled up garbage from the PDA market is not cleared immediately.
Turning his focus to the ongoing garbage crisis at the SGPDA with both the SGPDA and the MMC passing the buck on each other, Sardesai launched a blistering attack on the BJP-led administration at both state and local levels.
“There is garbage piling up in the SGPDA area, and the MMC refuses to clear it,” he said. “The Margao MLA joined the BJP claiming he wants to develop the city, yet the MMC Chairperson”also from BJP”has issued instructions not to clear SGPDA garbage. The SGPDA Chairman is a BJP state spokesperson. Despite being ruled entirely by the BJP, the people are suffering due to their mis-governance.”
Sardesai criticized the contradiction between the BJP’s national Swachh Bharat campaign and the on-ground reality in Margao. “If this mess is not resolved immediately, I will engage a private agency to clear the garbage. I will also appeal to Fatorda residents not to pay municipal taxes, since the municipality has ceased to function. No services, no taxes,” he thundered.
Referring to the deteriorating condition of the SGPDA retail market, Sardesai recalled its grand launch inspired by Dubai’s organized markets. “Today, that market has been reduced to a hub for hafta (protection money) collection,” he said.
He also alleged that the wholesale market has been taken over by street vendors operating under the protection of a bouncer, supposedly enjoying the patronage of the current Margao MLA. “Why should the people of Margao, Fatorda, and Salcete suffer? The Chief Minister, who also heads the Waste Management portfolio, must take responsibility for this collapse,” he demanded.
