The Shadow Council of Margao has said that with the MMC opening of the bids of the Bio Methanation plants, the charges of the Shadow Council over the “double pricing” of the GWMC plants stands vindicated.
Ever since the outgoing Council found sudden love for Bio Methanation plants costing 4.81crs each, the SCM has been demanding for explanation as to what special features of the GWMC plants make them cost more than double, Mr. Coutinho stated. Till today no authority has come forward to justify the double pricing of the 5TPD capacity plants, but the demand continues to persist. Waste Management Minister Mr. Michael Lobo had even made charges against the Shadow Council for Margao.
It becomes important to note that the same outgoing Council had approved a proposal for setting up of 5TPD capacity plants costing 2.39cr each inclusive of the costs for operations and maintenance for a 5 year period. The Council had also sought and obtained approvals from the government for the same.
However towards the fag end of the tenure, the Council fell for an altogether different proposal, 5TPD plants of which were tagged at 4.81cr each. “As responsible citizens and taxpayers, we definitely had the right to seek justification over the double pricing. Our demand for justification became all the more necessary, as the additional financial burden on the public exchequer would be over 16.94crs, considering the fact that 7 plants were to be set up, and each plant was priced 2.42crs higher (7×2.42=16.94)”, Mr. Coutinho claimed.
SCM in no terms wishes to state that the Plants costing 2.39crs is the ultimate solution as we are yet to see the functioning of these plants. Therefore under such circumstances, it will be prudent for the Council to initially set up one Plant of 5TPD, and let the company prove it’s efficiency, to secure the order for the remaining plants, Mr. Coutinho suggested.
