The Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) made it to the headlines earlier this week when Chief Minister Pramod Sawant presided over the ceremony with rituals performed in all three major religions -- Hindu, Catholic and Muslim -- to mark the laying of the foundation stone for its new headquarter building complex.
CCP Mayor Rohit Monserrate and his MLA-mother Jennifer Monserrate besides several other councillors of the CCP graced that ceremony which virtually rekindled hope that the capital's civic body will soon get a swanky, modern premises.
But the event got marred with a tinge of controversy. It so happens that it wasn't for the first time that a foundation stone was being laid for the long-pending project. A foundation stone was similarly laid with all the ceremony by former Urban Development Minister Milnd Naik, back in the days of the Covid-19 pandemic prompted lockdowns in November 2021. And, if veteran councillor, Surendra Furtado is to be believed, a contractor had been paid Rs 35 lakh for the work.
All said and done, it is encouraging that the CCP's main administrative building project is finally getting its legs with Sawant's ceremonious foundation stone laying act. But the CCP would do well to ensure the homework is done properly, lest we see a repeat of the fiasco the civic body was responsible for in its earlier avatar as Panjim Municipal Council back in the 1980s -- an entire market building constructed which had no staircase.
The story goes that in the heady days of the Panjim municipal council under the leadership of the legendary Francisco Branco, alias Bashick, the old Panjim market building was tendered out and built. Apparently, when the project was completed and plans were being drawn for its inauguration, Branco discovered that the newly constructed building had a flaw -- the architect had not provided for a staircase!
The inauguration was deferred and another structure was constructed adjoining it to provide for the staircase to access the higher floors of the building.
Monserrate, the current mayor, hopefully, has made sure that his technical team has got its fundas right for the administrative building project, lest fundamental flaws plague the headquarters and the lessons of the past go unlearnt.
Oppn showing unity
This week finally saw Goa's Opposition, or whatever is left of it after that crippling defection of eight Congress MLAs to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), show some urgency in forging a State-level replica of the Opposition bloc I.N.D.I.A.
Led by the Leader of the Opposition Yuri Alemao, a delegation comprising MLAs and party presidents of the component political parties, went and met Governor PS Sreedharan Pillai in a bid to highlight the frequently occurring communal incidents in Goa and ask him to intervene.
The Lok Sabha elections in 2024 are less than nine months away and it was high time that the various Opposition parties in Goa started to get their act together. There's still a long way to go but the show of unity displayed when the Opposition delegation met the Governor holds promise and the presence of the lone MLA of the regional Revolutionary Goans Party (RGP) Viresh Borkar was surprising given that his outfit has announced it will contest both the seats on its own.
Shack operators have the last laugh
It's a ritual that has played out year after year for the last many decades -- the tu-tu-mein-mein between the tourism minister and the beach shack operators.
This year was no different. Days after Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte announced the 'Shack Policy 2023-26' hell broke loose with the shack operators associations opposing it, particularly the provisions which imposed an age limit of 60 for being eligible to apply for licences.
In the following days, the shack operator associations began mobilising political support for their demand to scrap the new policy and revert to the old one. They enlisted the support of almost every MLA representing the coastal constituencies and lobbied with the government to remove the new provision of the maximum age limit.
Their efforts succeeded with the government blinking and agreeing to most of their demands. Finally, on Wednesday, the cabinet of Chief Minister Pramod Sawant formalised those changes and approved a modified 'Beach Shack Policy 2023-26'. Indeed, the shack operators, many of whom have been in the business for decades and either crossed the 60-year mark or were nearing it, had the last laugh.
