the goan I network
MARGAO
In a development that may put the Margao Municipal Council in a tight spot, the Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) has made it clear that the Corporation is not inclined to run the Sonsodo waste treatment plant in the event the Concessionaire hands over the facility to the MMC.
In fact, the GWMC has made it point blank clear to the Municipality that the civic body will have to either run the plant by itself or float an Expression of Interest to get a contractor to operate the plant once the Concessionaire moves out of the plant.
GWMC Managing Director Levinson Martins is believed to have told MMC Chief Officer Ajit Panchwadkar that the Corporation has already trained MMC workers in windrow composting and is ready to further train the civic workers in the exercise if the need arises.
The GWMC’s stand assumes significance as the MMC at a special meeting held last week had resolved to approach Chief Minister Pramod Sawant with a plea to take a call on the handling of the Sonsodo waste treatment plant once the Concessionaire quits the site. The Council was apparently seeking the CM’s intervention knowing well that the GWMC may not accept the civic body’s request to run the Sonsodo plant.
GWMC officials in private, however, say that the Chief Officer cannot abdicate its responsibility of running the plant if the situation arises, more so when the Corporation is prepared to further train the municipal workers in windrow composting.
Presently, the Sonsodo waste management plant is run and operated by the Concessionaire Fomento as per the South Goa District Court’s order in lieu of payment for the treatment of the daily waste supplied by the civic body.
Fomento had moved the district Court with a plea that the company should not be dispossessed of the waste treatment plant unless the civic body pays the termination amount of Rs 14 crore. The company, however, in an affidavit filed recently before the court had stated that the company has at all times been very keen to ensure there is a smooth transition and hand-over of the project facility to the MMC so that the garbage disposal arrangement at Margao city is not adversely affected.
In fact, Fomento had pointed out in the affidavit that it was even presently agreeable to forthwith hand over the plant for operations to a competent authority such as the Goa Waste Management Corporation, but sought appropriate protective orders from the court for handing over operations of the plant to
the civic body or such competent authority as the court may direct.
