MARGAO
Is the Margao Municipal Council’s ambitious Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme back on the tracks? Has the civic body inked a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the existing NGO South Goa Animal Welfare Trust (SGAWT) or has the municipality any plan to rope in a new agency to implement the ABC programme. And, has the municipality cleared the payments to SGAWT amounting to a whopping Rs 10-odd lakh pending for the last one year and a half since May 2020?
The stray dog menace had figured prominently at the first meeting of the newly-elected council chaired by Chairperson Lyndon Pereira on July 9 last. By Resolution No 5064, the council had unanimously resolved to clear the arrears to the NGO after the certification of the bills. While saying that the council was open to renewing the contract with SGAWT, the resolution also spoke about inviting a new player with a power point presentation.
Almost a month and a half now, the ground reality has not changed for the better. A representative of the NGO claimed that they are yet to receive the pending payment. And, it’s still unclear whether the civic body will renew the contract with SGAWT or will go in for a new agency.
When ‘The Goan’ called on Margao Municipal Chief Officer, Agnelo Fernandes to shed light on the latest initiative on stray dogs menace in the city, he said his office is yet to receive a copy of the minutes of the July 9 meeting in order to implement the resolutions. “Only when I receive the copy of the resolution that the question of implementation will arise”, Agnelo said.
The Margao civic chief Lyndon said the minutes of the July 9 meeting have almost been finalized and will be circulated in a day or two. He, however, said the civic body is serious in addressing the burning issue of stray dogs and the city will see the changes on the ground in the coming months.
The NGO, however, has been anxiously awaiting the release of the payments, pending for the last 15 months. Their pending arrears, if one goes by the official statistics dished out by the civic body, stands at a whopping Rs 10.21 lakhs as on June 2021.
The payments were apparently delayed for want of certification by the MMC officials. While the sanitary officials have turned down the request to certify the bills, on the plea that the sanitary inspector was posted at Sonsodo during the period, a junior engineer was believed to have refused to certify the bills since he has no knowledge of the ABC programme. Sources in the know say that after much delay, another JE had certified the bills, but the payments have still not been released till date.
Sadly, the MoU with the NGO expired on December 31, 2020, but a new MoU is still not in place, with SGAWT claiming it has been continuing the ABC programme sans the agreement.
SGAWT representatives are also worried over the issue of logistics. For, the 20 cages of the dog shelter near Sonsodo have reached a state of saturation, with the cages presently housing around 40-50 dogs after sterilization. The MMC dog catching van, the NGO claimed, has been giving sleepless nights, with breakdowns literally the order of the day.
NO MONEY IN POCKET, NGO RUNS THE
SHOW BY BORROWING FROM FRIENDS
MARGAO: South Goa Animal Welfare Trust (SGAWT) has said the NGO has been carrying on the ABC operations in the commercial capital by borrowing money from friends and well-wishers.
Sandra Fernandes pointed out that since the time the MMC’s payments have not been forthcoming since May last, the NGO has been left with no option than to borrow money to sustain the operations, hoping the MMC would release the payments at the earliest.
While the MMC had enhanced the payments to the NGO to Rs 70,000 per month during the tenure of the last council, Sandra said the NGO spends close to Rs 80,000 on the manpower on salaries and wages to the staff. “Besides, we have other expenses to meet such as on food. Timely release of the promised payment will help the NGO to tide over the financial difficulties”, she said.
