OLD GOA
The Santa Cruz panchayat failed to start construction of the Material Recovery Facility (MRF) shed on Wednesday, as it could not get police protection for the work.
Sarpanch Namdev Naik along with panch Lawrence Rodrigues were present at the site in the morning, waiting for police protection to arrive to begin work on the MRF.
Instead, the sarpanch was called at the Santa Cruz police outpost to produce an order from the authorities concerned to provide police protection.
“Since the sarpanch was unable to produce any order, no police protection was provided,” a police source informed The Goan.
Several attempts were made to contact the sarpanch but without any success.
Meanwhile, reliable sources informed that attempts are underway to find an amicable solution to the issue.
It may be recalled that The Goan had highlighted that Santa Cruz panchayat had sought police protection for setting up the MRF in the wake of opposition from residents of Alto-Santa Cruz.
The residents were of the opinion that the MRF should not be set up close to a residential area and that it should be away from habitation.
They had also pointed out that the MRF site was chosen without taking the residents into confidence.
However, sarpanch Naik had pointed to the High Court order which had directed the panchayat to set up MRF within eight weeks, the deadline of which ends on November 22.
