Goemkarponn desk
PANAJI: The shoddy perineal deals in the waste management system of Margao Municipal Council, (a Council whose mentors are none other than the 2 super vocal MLAs of Margao and Fatorda), is likely to open up a huge can of worms with the Shadow Council for Margao serving a notice on the Chief Officer and Chairperson of MMC, claiming that fraudulent bills worth over 7 crores 93 lakhs being paid to the two agencies engaged by the Council for segregated waste collection and cleaning of the various ward’s.
Shadow Council for Margao has served a Notice upon the Chairperson and Chief Officer of Margao Municipal Council to refrain from making any further payments from the Municipal treasury to the door-to-door waste collection agencies Green Globe Self Help Group- Fatorda and Bapu Environmental Social Service Organization-Ponda.
While alleging that both the said agencies have been fraudulently billing the Council in excess of the services provided, SCM claimed that the work order given to the agency, namely Bapu Environmental Social Service Organization is illegal, as the same was issued without following any Codal formalities, and that too, the contract is given to an agency that was terminated for its fraudulent attempt to defraud the Municipal treasury by several lakhs of rupees; and an agency on which an FIR was filed for the same.
Furthermore, SCM stated that both the contracts appear to be the most unique, in which there is neither security deposit nor performance guarantee taken from the agency.
SCM stated that agency Green Globe Self Help Group-Fatorda, vide initial order No. 1/11/83-ADMN/Vol X/466 dtd. 15/10/2019 was awarded the work of supplying to the Council 45 workers every day, on a daily wage basis, for a payment of Rs. 490/- per head per day. The said workers were for door to door Segregated waste Collection and other works specified in the work order/MOU, from ward no. 1 to 7 executed between the Council and the agency.
Subsequently, additional wards, i.e. Ward nos. 8 to 11 were allocated to the agency, with the job of supplying additional.
Further, while the work order for supplying workers in wards 1 to 11 was renewed further, yet another order was issued to the aforementioned mentioned agency; and this time it was for the supply of 28 workers for the collection and segregation of waste at the BLACK SPOTS inward nos 1 to 11 in Fatorda Constituency. Taking the tally of the number of workers to over 90.
SCM charged that even though the agency is not performing its responsibilities as laid down in the MOU dtd. 27/12/2018 executed between the Council and the Green Globe Self Help Group the inflated bills are being irregularly Certified by the Council’s officials for payment.
A similar fraud has been alleged in the case of the other agency Bapu Environmental Social Service Organization, responsible for the waste management in ward nos. 12 to 25. This agency is also billing the Council presently for 90 worker’s @525/- per day per head.
SCM alleges that the work order to this agency itself was illegal as no Codal formalities were followed while engaging this “tainted agency”, Bapu Environmental Social Service Organization, in 2019. So also, this agency has miserably failed to even fulfil the conditions stipulated in the work order, and the MMC officials prefer to ignore the same for obvious reasons, SCM alleged.
“And whereas, even after consistently highlighting the fraud by which the said agency is billing the Council inflated bills, much in access, and not commensurate with the services provided; your officials are fraudulently certifying the inflated/exaggerated bills, and payments are being made to the agency, SCM Convener Mr Savio Coutinho stated in the Notice.
