the goan I network
MARGAO
Asserting that the one sided Concessionaire Agreement on Mopa between the government of Goa and GMR is a matter of grave concern for Goa, Congress MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco has said that the entire Mopa Concessionaire agreement needs to be urgently investigated and re-tendered or preferably scrapped.
The three-time MLA said the recent Reliance Infrastructure dispute, wherein the State has been dragged into expensive and embarrassing arbitration, should serve as a wake up call to the present Goa government regarding the one-sided Concessionaire Agreement signed between the Government of Goa and GMR, regarding the Mopa Airport project.
As MGP leader Sudin Dhavalikar has rightly indicated, Reginaldo said the Mopa MoU has set the stage for another repetition of the Reliance Infrastructure arbitration imbroglio at the cost of the Goa state exchequer.
Raising a host of questions on the Mopa MoU and demanding clarification from the government in the
interest of transparency,
the Curtorim MLA demanded to know whether the
government is liable to pay Rs.4 lakhs per day to GMR for delay in giving Environmental clearance since October 2016.
He has further sought to know whether the Goa government has signed any Agreement with GMR wherein GMR has agreed to waive off the penalty which comes into force as a result of the National Green Tribunal and Supreme Court stay order.
Moreover, he demanded to know who will fund the Rs 300 crore highway from NH66 leading to the Mopa airport with the financial collapse of the NHAI.
“If GMR decides to terminate the Agreement, is the Government of Goa aware that according to the Agreement, the State exchequer is liable to pay GMR Rs.345 crores leveling work plus 12 crore per annum penalty for the last one year besides interest on loan, penalty and other expenses, which work out to around Rs 400 crore,” he further questioned.
