MCA-led MMC chief will complete a year in office on May 27, but his announcement on assuming office about handling garbage, parking imbroglio and streamlining administration remain unresolved
MARGAO
Margao Municipal Chairperson Lyndon Pereira will be completing one year in office on May 27. Backed by the Margao Civic Alliance (MCA) forged by Goa Forward chief Vijai Sardesai and Congress MLA Digambar Kamat, Lyndon had announced a slew of measures to handle the garbage and parking imbroglio and to streamline the Municipal administration when he assumed office last year. Stability was never an issue for the Municipal Chairperson given that the Margao Civic Alliance had a comfortable majority of 17 members in the 25-member civic body. While Lyndon and the MCA set out to resolve many civic issues over the last one year, the perennial issues plaguing the commercial capital and the civic body remain unresolved.
Garbage imbroglio
Has the Margao Municipal Council managed to resolve the Sonsodo imbroglio over the last one year, is a question asked by Madgavkars and Fatordekars as the Margao Municipal Chief Lyndon Pereira completes one year in office. Well, remediation of the Sonsodo legacy dump by the Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) is finally nearing completion, but the Municipal body has nothing to show on the garbage front over the last one year, other than commissioning a 5TPD bio-methanation plant. In fact, resolutions in support of projects adopted by the civic body at the Council’s first meeting on July 9 last are yet to see the light of day. A year later, the MMC handed over the garbage management operations to the GWMC.
Parking woes
Parking issues plaguing the Commercial capital have not been addressed till date. Foundation stone for the multi-level parking was laid in 2015 with much fanfare, but the project is yet to see the light of day. Take note, the Margao Municipal Council had floated tenders a couple of times in the last one year, but there were no takers for the project. At the last Council meeting, it was proposed to hand over the project to Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA), but a formal request is yet to go to the agency for execution of the multi-level parking project.
Stray dogs
Margao Municipal Council’s Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the South Goa Welfare Trust for Animals (SGWTA) had lapsed on December 31, 2020. Neither the previous Council nor the incumbent body has moved with alacrity to ink a fresh agreement with NGOs working in the field of animal welfare. No doubt, MMC Chairperson Lyndon Pereira had a meeting with a NGO about how to go about the job soon after taking over the reins of office. For the moment, however, it isn’t clear how the civic body will go about tackling the burning issue of stray dogs.
Municipal administration
Is the incumbent Council headed by Chairperson Lyndon satisfied with the functioning of the Municipal administration, a question that may come to haunt the city fathers as the chairperson completes one year in office? One has heard complaints on missing files, erring staff, defunct CCTV cameras and the failure to implement resolutions adopted by the Council in the last one year. To tide over the situation and tone up the administration, the chairperson is racing against time to revive the CCTV cameras at a cost of Rs 2.5 lakh.
Revenue mobilisation
Revenue recoveries was another issue that came back to haunt the Municipal Chairperson and the civic body in the last one year. Outstanding revenues had touched a whopping Rs 20 crore, and the civic body was found struggling to pay the salaries on time. To tide over the problem, the Margao Municipality has appointed a recovery officer to recover the outstanding arrears. Margao Municipal Chairperson Lyndon says the mechanism has helped the civic body recover around Rs 2 crore, but the Municipality is indeed facing a daunting task in mopping up the outstanding revenue.
Measures set in motion, results in coming months: MMC chief
MARGAO: Margao Municipal Chairperson Lyndon Pereira has said though many a perennial issue, including the garbage imbroglio may appear unresolved, measures set in motion to address issues plaguing the city would show results in the coming months.
He pointed out that the Margao Municipality has commissioned the first ever 5TPD bio-methanation plant in the city in the last one year. “After taking over the reins of office a year ago, I had promised to find ways to dispose of the tonnes of inert generated by the remediation of the Sonsodo dump. I can say that tonnes of inert found its way near the KTC bus stand, facilitating the Goa Waste Management Corporation to take the remediation process forward at Sonsodo,” he said, adding ‘the civic body has almost completed the tendering process of the door-to-door garbage collection’.
Conceding that a mechanism is yet to fall in place to handle the stray dog menace, Lyndon said the civic body would ink an agreement in the next few days with an NGO to tackle the issue. Admitting that lots needs to be done in toning up the administration, the Chairperson has promised to discuss with the newly-appointed Chief Officer how to go about the matter. “We have a recovery office, who has recovered around Rs 2 crore. We will push the recovery process more vigorously,” he said.
Saying the CCTV surveillance cameras have been revived and will be commissioned soon, Lyndon said this will help to keep a tab on the staff and employees.
While pointing out that development works amounting to Rs 5 crore would be tendered soon, he said he was instrumental in getting sanctions for a forklift and trucks from the Municipal administration.
