Beach waste collection contract a scam: Candolim VP

CALANGUTE:Candolim village panchayat has urged the state government to urgently resolve the issue of garbage generated by the seasonal beach shacks as the contractor appointed by the tourism department has failed to clear the garbage.
Candolim panchayat member Fermino Fernandes said that garbage from the beach shacks is being dumped along the sand dunes and buried in the sand because the contractor hasn’t cleared the garbage, resulting in a stench and filth all over the beach which is a sore sight for visiting tourists.“The tourism department has awarded the contractor a contract of Rs 14 crore despite the contractor not collecting any garbage or having a site to dump the garbage in the previous years. This is nothing but a scam,” Fernandes alleged.
The issue was earlier raised in the Candolim gram sabha last Sunday by agitated beach shack operators who had demanded that the village panchayat clear the garbage. The garbage from beach shacks is the responsibility of the tourism department and the village panchayats in coastal areas are refusing to collect the garbage, resulting in the garbage being dumped along sand dunes, under the bushes, along the roadsides and other places.
“We’ve been trying to convene a joint meeting with the contractor appointed by the tourism department, the director of tourism and others concerned, but they’re avoiding the meeting on some pretext or the other,” Fernandes said.
There are more than 70 beach shacks dotting the Candolim beach, with another 125-odd shacks in Calangute which is also facing a similar problem with the contractor failing to collect the garbage from the shacks. Calangute panchayat members accused beach shack operators of dumping their garbage in the garbage bins of the village panchayat, leaving them no option but to clear the garbage. tnn