CCP seeks time to pay municipal market dues in Panaji

PANAJI: Citing lack of funds, the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) on Wednesday sought time from the electricity department to pay the dues of the municipal market complex. The CCP has decided to link the payment of the due to the collection of rent arrears from the tenants occupying the market’s premises.
During the council meeting on Wednesday, corporators objected to paying the first instalment of Rs 1 crore through SOPO and house tax collected following which CCP commissioner Sanjit Rodrigues told the corporators that the settling of the electricity department’s arrears would be linked to recovery of dues from the market’s vendors.
“To collect the rent arrears from the market’s tenants we will first have to sign agreements with them,” Rodrigues said.
He explained that the initial one crore rupees towards the dues couldn’t be paid to the electricity department as CCP doesn’t have the capacity to meet the electricity department’s requirement of paying the additional instalments towards the Rs 5 crore bill every fifteen days.
Questioned as to why the CCP was taking so long to sign the agreements with the Market Tenant’s Association, Rodrigues told the corporators that the tenants are yet to give their response on the agreements, despite the 15-day deadline given to them lapsing.
Former mayor Surendra Furtado told the commissioner that for the last five years the tenants have they not responded on the issue of signing agreements.
The corporation will prepare a legal action report should tenants not take a decision on signing the agreements by November 11, commissioner Sanjit Rodrigues said after corporator Rupesh Halarnkar demanded an action plan to ensure that the tenants sign agreements.
Mayor Uday Madkaikar attributed the delay to the association first agreeing to sign a leave and license agreement and then looking to sign a lease agreement which involved approval from the government and the legal team.
Corporator Pundalik Dessai told the corporation that it was going round in circles and making no headway which former mayor Vaidehi Naik agreed to saying that “immediate action is required” in the matter.
Corporator Menino D’Cruz raised the issue of tapping of electricity in the market while.
A number of tenants come to the CCP office willing to sign agreements but say that the market tenants association isn’t permitting them to, the corporation said.