THE GOAN NETWORK
MAPUSA
For the second time in just over two months, a delegation of the Mapusa Merchants Association (MMA) found itself before Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Tuesday, seeking intervention in issues that the government had earlier promised would be resolved.
Despite repeated assurances from the Chief Minister, the traders returned from the meeting with little more than another promise that their grievances would be looked into.
Sawant, who was in Mapusa for the BJP North Goa district's public outreach programme, assured the merchants that he would speak to the Chief Officer of the Mapusa Municipal Council (MMC) and ensure that their rent-related issue was resolved.
He also directed the delegation to meet the Chief Officer, saying instructions would be issued to settle the matter.
Ironically, this was almost identical to the assurance given by the Chief Minister on May 5, when the merchants had travelled to the Secretariat to meet him along with Urban Development Minister Vishwajit Rane, PWD Minister Digambar Kamat and senior officials from the Urban Development Department and the MMC.
At that high-level meeting, Sawant had categorically assured the traders that all their issues would be resolved within a month, by June 1, and had even remarked that the merchants would never again need to approach him over these grievances.
More than a month after that deadline, the traders were once again compelled to seek the Chief Minister's intervention.
"We came to sort out our pending issues with the CM. The civic body had stopped collecting our rent for the last three months and we were concerned about it," said MMA Secretary Siddesh Raut.
"The CM said he will instruct the Chief Officer and that from Wednesday the rent would be collected," he added.
However, when the delegation met the Chief Officer the following day, they were told that a decision would be taken only after consulting the administrator, who is expected to visit on Friday.
"As usual, we only got assurances. I remember the May 5 meeting where the Chief Minister, two ministers and senior officials were present. The Chief Minister had assured us that all our issues would be resolved by June 1. Till today, those have remained only assurances," Jeetendra Falari, former president of MMA, said.
He said the unresolved rent issue was only one of several concerns affecting business in the market.
"People don't want to come to the market because there is no parking. Traffic jams at almost every junction in Mapusa make things worse for customers. These issues have remained unresolved for years," he said.
