Shripad calls for rethink on Bainguinim waste facility

PANAJI
In a major setback to the BJP-led State government, the Union Minister of State Shripad Naik on Thursday urged the government to rethink the proposed solid waste management facility at Bainguinim, demanding to shift the proposal out of Old Goa, which is a notified UNESCO World Heritage site.

While Naik maintained that he is not against the facility, this is the second time that the Union MoS has objected to the plant coming up at Bainguinim as according to him the place identified is wrong and the government has to shift it in the larger interest of the public.

“I have raised my concern in the past and continue with my stand. I am part of the government and I am not opposing it but it has to be shifted out from Old Goa considering it is a UNESCO World Heritage site…an international tourism spot,” he told media persons.

Naik added, “I will try to convince the government to shift the plant in the larger public interest. People there are opposing it and their opposition is valid. The government will have to rethink their proposal”.

The Goa Waste Management Corporation is in the process of setting up the facility based on the Recycle & Sorting Line, Segregation, and Bio-methanation at Baingunim to cater to the talukas of Tiswadi and its adjacent Panchayats or local bodies. A 250 TPD (+20%) facility was proposed on a land admeasuring 171312 sq mts at Old Goa, for which a fresh tender is likely to be issued shortly.

Naik, a Member of Parliament from North Goa, said that he had raised the issue with the previous BJP government too. He said that he has already raised the issue with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and also Minister for Waste Management Babush Monserrate. “I am confident that they will take the right decision in the public interest,” he added.

The facility is facing growing opposition from the Old Goa villagers, panchayats and also local MLA Rajesh Faldesai. The villagers have warned they will hit the streets if the project goes ahead.

The issue, which has been simmering since 2002, was stirred up again when Monserrate revealed that the tender for the Bainguinim waste treatment plant would be issued afresh within three months. On the same day, Cumbharjua MLA Faldesai said the project was scrapped and that he would not allow it to come up in his constituency.

The government is gearing up to issue a tender for the fifth time after failing to get the required response. The corporation had initially floated a tender in 2019 for a 250-tonne-per-day (TPD) solid waste treatment plant at Bainguinim.

Subsequently, the corporation scaled down the project to a 100-TPD plant and reissued the tender in September 2022, with the estimated cost pegged at Rs 120 crore. Again a fresh tender was issued in December 2023 but the three companies that had applied failed on technical grounds. Last year, another tender was floated but the process was halted.

MoS slams errant cops, calls for police reforms
PANAJI: With an increasing number of police personnel getting involved in various offences, the Union Minister for State Shripad Naik on Thursday slammed the errant cops for tainting the disciplined force’s image.

Speaking to the media outside the BJP headquarters, Naik - also North Goa MP, stated a lot needs to be done to reform Goa Police including proper skill training, as he cited the involvement of some police officials in criminal activities and misconduct.

“Such acts are damaging the reputation of the police force, the government and the State overall. Who is getting a bad name???....police ... government and the state," he said.

Naik proposed that the State government will have to lay more focus on bringing some reforms such as better training and skill development. “The government will have to look into all these aspects,” he said, saying that Goa’s law and order situation has improved.

He further said that with the influx of tourism and a floating population, crimes are bound to take place, with outsiders being involved in the majority of the cases.