PANAJI
Revenue Minister Atanasio (Babush) Monserrate on Thursday broke his silence over the controversy around the ongoing Smart City works in the capital saying it appears to be sub-standard and the highly paid consultants needed to be held accountable.
“I feel substandard work is being carried out as far as Smart City is concerned in main Panaji,” Monserrate who represents the capital in the Goa legislative assembly said.
“I am not interfering because consultants are there. There is one consultant who has been paid Rs 8 crore for consultancy. I believe consultancy should have been under PWD at least”, Monserrate said.
The minister and his son Rohit, who is the Corporation of the City of Panaji mayor, are both on the board of the Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Ltd (IPSCDL) and initially were seen to be enthusiastic of the projects when execution was first launched in December last year.
Midway, however, the Monserrate duo gradual withdrew from the spotlight of the smart city work as citizens and commuters in the capital grew restive over the inconvenience caused by the excavated roads and disruption in the flow of traffic.
On Thursday, Monserrate Sr, however said, he will wait and watch even as he stressed that when the consultants are paid in crores of rupees, it is incumbent on them to deliver the goods.
On Chief Minister Pramod Sawant’s assurance that there will be no flooding during the ensuing rains, Babush said CM’s statement is based on what has been told to him by the technical staff on ground.
