VASCO
Mormugao Municipal Council (MMC) chairperson, Deepak Naik along with municipal engineer, Diniz D’Mello, council staff and police force, undertook a garbage awareness in Ward 17 of the council.
Naik, with the help of a local, Abdul Aziz, made announcements in Hindi on a mega phone, urging the residents of the slum area not to throw their garbage all along the road. Aziz, on behalf of MMC, urged the residents to hand over their garbage to the staff appointed by the garbage collection contractor during door-to-door garbage collection.
Aziz warned the residents that if they do not cooperate with the council and the contractor, then their water supply and electricity would be disconnected by the council.
Aziz told the residents that door-to-door collection of garbage will commence from April 1, and at the end of the month each household should pay fee of Rs 40 to the contractor.
“It's a good step taken by the council to keep the area clean, and I urge the residents to cooperate with the contractor,” he added.
Some MMC staff distributed pamphlets stating 'Do's and Don'ts' on garbage.
When asked why he has taken up only ward 17 when there are other areas, including the city where garbage is strewn all over, Naik said local councillor, Pascoal D’Souza is hampering the collection of garbage.
“This is causing a huge garbage problem. People who go to collect garbage are threatened not to do so. Therefore, to instill confidence in the residents, MMC thought of carrying out this exercise,” said Naik.
Contradicting Naik's statement that D’Souza is hampering collection of garbage, the residents told The Goan that D’Souza was in fact taking a personal interest in the disposal of garbage.
“For the last three months, the contractor stopped collecting our garbage, which forced us to throw it along the roadside as MMC staff clears roadside garbage,” said a resident.
“The labourers of the contractors used to collect our garbage on alternate days and we had to pay Rs 40 per month, while in other areas the garbage is collected on a daily basis, and they also pay the same amount,” added the resident.
When contacted, D’Souza termed the garbage awareness is a political gimmick, and as election is around the corner, the local politicians want to score brownie points.
“Ever since the new council started functioning, I have been pleading with the chairperson to provide me labourers to clear the garbage in my ward and the gutters,” said D’Souza.
“All my pleas fell on deaf ears of the council, due to which I employed labourers and started cleaning the ward at my own expense,” he added.
“At times, I have been even ridiculed during the council meeting over my demand of labourers to clean the ward. However, I am happy at least by making me the scapegoat, the council has decided to start door-to-door collection of garbage,” said D’Souza.
