With Assembly polls just a few months away, an unending wave of internal conflicts appears to have gripped the BJP state unit. Just a few days after former chief minister Laxmikant Pareskar and Mandrem MLA Dayanand Sopted locked horns for the Mandrem seat, it's BJP vs BJP again, this time in Vasco.
Vasco MLA Carlos Almeida on Monday alleged a scam in the repair and renovation work of the Mormugao Municipal Council building (MMC) by Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA) under urban development minister Milind Naik.
Speaking to media persons, Almeida said, "the work of the Municipality is still going on. This is a heritage building. This work should be done long back. See the state of the building, see the sheds, these metals sheds are not to be used for restoration,"
He also stressed that heritage buildings cannot have iron sheds as part of their renovation work. "Milind Naik should take action and I feel it's a scam. This building which is a heritage cannot have iron sheds. I'm pointing fingers directly at GSUDA because they are involved in this work. I live in an old house and to restore that, I cannot remove the tiles and place a metal shed. There is an original value for everything. I am not a technical person to tell exactly, but a heritage lover can come and verify this place," he said.
It may be recalled that GSUDA is undertaking the work of renovating the Portuguese era municipality building structure. The government had sanctioned 7 crores for the renovation work.
Naik, meanwhile, said it's hurtful to see an BJP MLA is putting allegations against him. "Before putting allegations on me, if he feels I'm doing something wrong then he should go and complain to CM. He can go to the office of the party and file a complaint about it," he said.
Refuting to the scam allegations raised by Vasco MLA, Naik said, "according to the requirement, GSUDA is like a contractor and the money is given to them by the municipality. The way he is blaming looks like half of the things is being taken at our homes. Before putting such allegations, he should know the system," Mormugao MLA said.
