MARGAO
Raw mangoes have made their presence felt in the Pimpalkatta area of the commercial capital. It’s just a matter of time before the Margao market is flooded by mangoes by local farmers as well as by outstation vehicles bringing tonnes of seasonal fruit to Goa.
The Margao Municipal Council, however, is yet to float the sopo tender inviting bids from prospective bidders for the sopo collection. The mango season is considered the major season wherein the civic body through the sopo contractor can look forward to earning handsome revenue from the baskets of mangoes unloaded at the Pimpalkatta market.
The Margao municipality is presently collecting the sopo departmentally, with officials in the know admitting in private that revenue from sopo collection has been adversely affected.
That’s not all. Questions are being raised about whether the Margao municipality intends to collect the sopo tax department in the coming financial year as well. For, there is just a month to go for the curtains to come to an end on the current financial year, but the sopo tender inviting bids has not been floated to date.
When The Goan called up Margao Municipal Chief Officer Manuel Barretto to shed light on the fate of the sopo tender, he said the civic body is in the process of finalizing the sopo details, before the tender is floated in the coming days.
“I understand that the mango season is on the anvil, and Margao plays host to mangoes coming from across the State as well as from across the state border,” the Chief Officer said, adding that the MMC will float the sopo tender so that a new contractor is appointed before the commencement of the new financial year.
The sopo tender had kicked a row last year on a host of issues, with City Fathers demanding scraping of the three years experience clause to pave way for prospective bidders to participate.
The experience clause is cited as the reason behind the lack of response for the sopo tender floated by the Margao civic body last year.
Sopo collection brings in handsome revenue for the Margao civic body, running into crores, which had in the past touched a whopping Rs 70-odd lakh.
