MARGAO
The Margao Municipal Council finds itself in a tight spot over the sopo fees collection contract.
Reason: On one hand, the municipality has registered a fall in revenue from the departmental collection of sopo fees, while on the other hand, it has barred the participation of prospective contractors without three years of experience in the collection of sopo fees.
This has become evident when the Margao Municipal Council last month received a lone bid for the open auction of the sopo fees collection. Not allotting the sopo collection contract to the lone bidder on grounds that the latest government circular bars allotment of contract for a lone bidder, the MMC has sent the matter to the Director of Municipal Administration (DMA) to take a call on the issue.
Sources, however, pointed out that the DMA has not given any opinion on the lone sopo bid, and is believed to have returned the file to the MMC to take an appropriate decision.
Chief Officer Rohit Kadam pointed out that the matter now falls in the domain of the elected council to make the right decision.
“We will place the matter before the council for a decision and how to go about the matter, whether to go with the single bidder or not,” the Chief Officer said.
MMC officials in private told The Goan that revenue from the sopo collection fees has fallen to its lowest with the exercise being done departmentally by the municipal staff.
“The council should initiate steps to take an early decision on the matter so that the municipality does not suffer further losses from sopo,” remarked an official.
The official added: “One way of increasing the revenue from sopo is by removing the experience clause from the sopo tender. By imposing the experience clause, the council has kept away many prospective bidders from participating in the sopo tender. The time has come for the council to take a decision keeping in mind the interest of the council.”
The official said that the departmental collection of sopo fees has not at all helped the civic body increase revenue from the head.
Sources pointed out that the MMC was also exploring the possibility of permitting the outgoing sopo contactor to collect the sopo fees for three months if the council agrees to the suggestion. Officials, however, said that the outgoing sopo contractor will have to first clear the outstanding dues before being considered for the job.
Given the situation, municipal officials are looking forward to the elected council taking the right decision, which will help boost the revenue from sopo collection.
