More Grim Ferry Tales

More Fairy Tales

On September 19, 2008 three tenders to construct two new ferry boats were opened and another Satyam-like scam unveiled instead. Because as has been exposed for the umpteenth time in this column, strange things happen in Goa's tendering process. Only one bidder, Wadia Boat Builders of Gujarat, quoted sticking to the specifications laid out. Wadia quoted Rs 90,00,000 to construct each ferry against, as I wrote earlier, the cost estimated by the department to be Rs 30 lakh for a ferry that can carry five cars. A ferry that could take six cars costs Rs 35 lakh. But that is understandable because as you know well by now, everybody but a Goan, gets to eat off the Goan party cake speaking metaphorically.

Yet, in the voluminous note put up by the office of the River Navigation Department, the bid was 100 per cent above its estimated cost of Rs 45,00,000. This estimate is obviously way off target. Such is the laxity in the process of tendering in Goa that Ratna Engineering Works, Vasco, quoted Rs 69,75,000 and Vijai Marine Services also of Vasco quoted Rs 78,00,000. If you recall, the same two bidders staged a neck-to-neck race in the tenders for repairing three ferries; blatantly quoting the same rates for several items. They apparently enacted another two-horse race this time too. And guess what? This time they just decided to ignore the specifications laid out by the River Navigation Department. Then why quote at all? Perhaps, they thought they could convince the government to give one of them the contract on the basis of their lower quotes. And the rest falls into place. Now, the government has to re-tender for these three new ferries in addition to the four new ferries that were approved by it separately.


What Rubbish!

No, this is not another ferry tale, but a tall tale told to a rival paper by the Malar (in Divar island) deputy sarpanch Tulsidas Kundaikar, claiming the Malar Village Panchayat was on the look-out for a garbage dumping site. But, all his proposals have been nixed by the Goa Pollution Control Board. There's an even greater story here, in that Kundaikar, is probably the longest living deputy sarpanch who is actually the acting sarpanch. The panchas of Malar somehow contrived to get the woman sarpanch (this is a reserved post) to resign. Next, they somehow contrived to ensure the next woman in line refused the hot seat. And so, Kundaikar is back in the saddle he has reserved for himself for a long, long, long time. In fact, residents of Malar are intrigued why the Director of Panchayats, Menino Peres, who shoots off letters to other village panchayats taking sides with mega builders and goes through great pains to explain in public that the Gram Sabha is not the powerful peoples' movement it is thought to be; has not asked the Malar VP to explain its blatantly anti-reservationist act.

Why can't the Malar VP acquire a garbage dumping site? The answer is not because this government cannot bully some poor landlord into parting with his precious land. The answer is because this panchayat simply does not have the funds to collect and dump garbage in the first place. It is totally bereft of imagination, ideas and most of all funds. It is consumed by itself and in reimbursing its own expenditures and the salaries of panchas. Right this moment in fact, over a hundred migrant labourers have camped on its premises creating a horrifying, stinky mess inappropriate to describe in this paper, but I am sure you can imagine. The labourers are here to build a road, the very same panchayat neglected for several years, will regrettably (but unavoidably because the problem is not theirs) stay on for at least a month. In fact, do read next week how this VP could easily be Goa's worst managed.

(Feedback lionroars.goa@gmail.com, 97637185010)


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