Goemkapronn desk
PANAJI: Finally, the cat is out of the bag as the first FIR has been booked in the multi-crore Panaji Smart City scam, said Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao reacting to the Anti-Corruption Bureau registering FIR against the former managing director Swayandipta Pal Chaudhary.
Alemao further said, “The FIR is just the tip of an iceberg. We (the Congress) have time and again said and proved that the whole Smart City project is a huge scam.”
The FIR says a financial irregularity of Rs 87 lakhs but we know the amount is much, much more and many others are involved in this multi-crore scam, said Alemao, who has raised the issue in the Goa Assembly several times.
Alemao said that the ACB, probing the scam, may not be able to conduct a fair probe due to the involvement of some ruling BJP party functionaries.
“I demand an independent probe by the CBI or a retired judge in which the role of all former chairpersons and other members of IPSCDL Board is also looked into,” Alemao demanded.
Alemao said innocent lives have been lost besides the Panjimites and the Ribandar residents suffering due to the haphazard works.
“Whenever we raised the issue, the Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant has refused to accept there was a scam in Smart City works. Now what answer does he have? What action will he take?” questioned Alemao.
The FIR also proves Sawant has no control over the bureaucracy, first, it was the Chief Secretary who was involved in the land scam and now the former IPSCDL MD, charged Alemao.
“This is BJP’s Model of development. We have always been saying this is not the development of Goa and Goans but the PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT OF BJP PARTY LEADERS,” Alemao stated.
