the goan I network
VASCO
Stating there should be no halt in development works, Urban Development Minister and Mormugao MLA Milind Naik on Wednesday said required grants would be provided regularly to all municipalities in the State.
“I have already cleared development grants worth Rs 18 crore and as and when we receive files, we will clear them. Salary grants of Rs 94 lakh have been cleared for four municipal councils,” said Naik, while speaking to reporters.
“Development should not come to a halt as governance is a continuous process. Since I am handling a new department, some things are yet to be improvised and if need be, we may need to recruit staff after due process and approvals. Things are in process because I want to run this big department given to me systematically and in a full-fledged manner,” said Naik.
Naik said he had conducted a joint meeting with municipal councils and the DMA for requirements of recruitment process, if required, and new plans are underway.
“Recruitment for municipal councils up to a level required must be taken up and we have discussed this in a joint meeting with the DMA. The process is underway. It’s not that our department will work alone and there has to be coordination with municipal councils as well, as they must have sufficient strength as well since they are handling development works. The recruitment process must be cleared from the personnel department,” added Naik.
Plans to shift garbage from Sada
my top priority: Minister
VASCO: Urban Development Minister Milind Naik on Wednesday told reporters that his top priority would be to shift garbage from Sada, adding that he had already begun the process at his level. “I have become minister a second time in 10 years and I have always been speaking to Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar about the need to move garbage out of Sada. I had also informed the previous urban development minister about the same... I have decided that my top priority would be to shift the garbage from Sada, especially since the garbage heap has become so big. About 50,000 sq mtrs of land has been identified in Verna for a garbage treatment plant and this garbage could be shifted there soon.”
The minister said that if a hi-tech garbage plant is to be set up in Mormugao constituency, a minimum of 1 lakh sq mtrs of land would be needed, but such a plot has not been identified.
“People have to support this issue and if we get land available and a good garbage treatment plant is set up in this constituency, this garbage issue will be resolved,” said Naik.
