PANAJI
Deputy Chief Minister Francis D’Souza, who also holds the portfolio for Urban Development expressed disappointment over poor response by the Corporation of City of Panaji (CCP) at the function organised to present the road map for Panaji Smart City and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT).
Both elected representatives “ CCP Mayor Surendra Furtado and Panaji MLA Sidharth Kuncalienkar “ wished to skip the function which was organised on the occasion of completion of one of the two schemes of Union Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD).
Despite a formal invitation from the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC), the mayor apparently chose not to attend the function due to his differences with the State Government, while Panaji MLA could not attend the function due to health problems. The CCP was represented by the Commissioner Dipak Desai and few corporators in the Opposition.
The Deputy Chief Minister has, however, called for unity among all the stakeholders for working towards making Panaji a smart city.
When asked if he would initiate a dialogue to resolve differences in CCP, he said, “If I am supposed to do it, I will do it. The Corporation is urban local body. They have their own powers under the constitution and nowhere the government is in the picture. If I am to be there for resolving this issue, I am there. I have no ego problem. The preliminary work was done by CCP itself and the proposal has come from the CCP. So the mayor cannot say that CCP was sidelined.”
