MARGAO
When the Margao city fathers meet somewhere around next week, billed as the last meeting of the Council before the term ends on November 4, they will have a clear task at hand to take a call on the Sonsodo imbroglio “ whether the MMC should bear the cost of the bio-methanation plants estimated around Rs 42-odd crore or request the government to execute the project without any financial burden on the civic body.
This question assumes significance and comes against the backdrop of the fact that the Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) has submitted preliminary estimates of the proposed bio-methanation project to the civic body and questions raised in the Municipal corridors and whether the Municipality can afford to spend huge amount of funds on the project.
When The Goan called up the Chief Officer, Agnelo Fernandes to shed light on the question whether the MMC would undertake the project departmentally, he said the GWMC estimates will be placed before the Council for a decision. “Further decision on the execution of the project will be taken by the Council when the preliminary estimates are placed before the meeting”, the Chief Officer said.
Incidentally, GWMC officials said that the Corporation has prepared the preliminary estimates for the bio-methanation project on the understanding that the MMC will foot the bill of the project.
“If the MMC decides to bear the cost of the project, it will have to forward the proposal to the government for administrative sanction before the Corporation takes up the work of doing the exact estimates”, the official added.
At the last meeting of the Council, the City Fathers had resolved to go in for the bio-methanation plants in order to resolve the Sonsodo imbroglio. The minutes of the meeting were later forwarded to the Goa Waste Management Corporation, setting in motion the process to prepare estimates for the multi-crore project.
‘Untested experiment of bio-methanation exposes Lobo’s intention’
MARGAO: Convenor of the Shadow Council for Margao, Savio Coutinho has said the cat is finally out of the bag, while referring to the untested experiment of Bio Methanation mooted by the Waste Management Minister Michael Lobo.
He said Michael Lobo, who projected himself as a good samaritan, desperately wanting to settle the Margao waste problem, has finally revealed his motive of having more interest in the funds of the Margao Municipal Council.
“How could the Minister even dream of expecting the Council to deposit funds with the GWMC for the execution of his own Experiment which is untested?, Mr. Coutinho thundered.
The letter from the GWMC dated 12th October 2020, makes it mandatory for the Council to obtain all the necessary approvals from the government and finally deposit the funds with the GWMC. “This is beyond our scope of imagination considering the fact that all through he made everyone believe that funds would be arranged by the waste management corporation,” he added.
In fact, the Shadow Council for Margao has demanded clarification from the three MLAs and the elected Council if they would agree with this proposal of the Waste Management Corporation.
