MARGAO
South Goa Planning and Development Authority’s (SGPDA) bid to earn whopping annual revenue of Rs 3.88 crore, around Rs 32 lakh a month to be precise, by way of sopo collection fees from the wholesale fish market seemed to have run into rough weather.
As prospective bidders have raised a host of queries to the tender condition, the SGPDA has sent an SOS to the PDA members by convening an emergency meeting to address and tide over the issues.
For, a number of bidders are believed to have raised queries during the pre-bid meeting, primarily relating to the annual amount of Rs 3.88 crore fixed by the PDA and also the condition that the bidders should have experience in fisheries.
The SGPDA, sources pointed out finds itself in a tight spot for the simple reason that the Planning body is presently collecting departmentally an amount of Rs 12 lakh as sopo fees every month. Sources pointed out that a couple of bidders are believed to have raised questions how the Planning body expects the successful bidder to recover revenue amounting to Rs 33 lakh every month when the PDA itself has been collecting on an average Rs 12 lakh per month.
Bidders are believed that paying Rs 33 lakh to the SGPDA would not leave much income for the contractor as he will have to not only pay the wages of the sopo collectors, but take measures for the maintenance of the market.
A prospective bidder told The Goan that the even though the PDA has floated the sopo collection tender as per the High Court directions and upon a nod from the PWD, the planning body should float the tender after three months and try to reach the magic figure of Rs 33 lakh revenue departmentally.
“If the SGPDA is not able to magic revenue figure of Rs 33 lakh every month, how the planning body can expect the contractors to mop up the revenue and pay the same to the PDA every month’, questioned a bidder.
He added; “If the PDA thinks that revenue from the sopo collection in the wholesale fish market can indeed touch the magic figure of Rs 3.88 crore annually, the government should order a probe how come the PDA could not mop up the revenue when the sopo collection has been carried out departmentally over the last several years”.
The bidder further demanded to know how the planning body has worked out the revenue figure of Rs 3.88 crore and whether the calculations were done by the PDA or by the government.
