MARGAO
The last time the Margao Municipal Council preferred to ink an agreement with a contractor by throwing the codal formalities to the winds was when the civic body roped in a contractor to supply e-rickshaws to clean up the city footpaths and pavements.
In fact, the project costing around Rs eight lakhs, soon hit a block after the contractor abandoned the vehicles, which have been craving for maintenance at the municipal garage since then.
In this instant case, the then Chief Officer had gone ahead with the payment of Rs eight lakhs for the two e-rickshaws by overruling the objections put in by the Municipal accounts section.
Within days of the inauguration of the e-rickshaw project by Margao MLA Digambar Kamat, the project got derailed for reasons best known to the contractor, blocking MMC’s Rs eight lakh investment in the bargain.
Sources in the know pointed out that the then Chief Officer had inked the agreement with the contractor for Rs eight lakh without securing a bare minimum performance guarantee. Instead, the Chief Officer was content with a cheque from the contractor, which could not be realized after the contractor blocked payment after he abandoned the project.
