Mangaluru, March 31: Mangalore City Corporation (MCC) council meet was held on Monday March 30th, which witnessed protest, opposition and allegations regarding the poor services provided by Antony Waste Handling Pvt Ltd.
Opposition members alleged that MCC is collecting more taxes from the citizens, but the service provided to them is not satisfactory.
Sudhir Shetty, opposition member said, even small houses are told to pa garbage management tax of Rs 480. The poor people are facing problems and tax for garbage management is beyond their means. Either tax must be reduced or make Antony company to provide better services.
Roopa D Bangera, another opposition member said, Antony Waste Handling Pvt Ltd provides very poor service. She expressed that it was wrong on the part of MCC to sign a contract with the company for seven years with only two months of probationary period. They have failed to reach places where there are no roads. Public’s will be furious over the issue.
Congress members disagreed their claim and said that Antony Waste Handling firm was providing good service and showed pictures to justify it.
Kavitha Sanil, corporator of Pachanady said, garbage spilled on the road near Pachanady by the garbage lorry is rising. There are even open trucks to collect the garbage which causes inconvenience to the public’s. Solution has to be found for grievances of the citizens.
Responding to the allegations, Hephsiba Korlapati said, Antony Waste Handling Pvt Ltd is controlling all the work from Mumbai. They have supervised the work from the ground level. Daily and weekly targets were issued and we have observed that the work is really disappointing on ground level. We have received a number of complaints from various wards. Although notices were issued, still no changes are seen. Hence, we have decided to withhold the tender amount payable to the company till they improve their services.
Mayor Jacinta Alfred issued an order to remove all the unauthorized hoardings from government lands with immediate effect after opposition members pointed out the same.
Sudhir Shetty, MCC opposition member said, the slow pace renovation works of Town hall has caused inconvenience to the people. He demanded that temporary arrangements be made close to the Hall and urged for the completion of the works at the earliest.
In response, Hephsiba Korlapati revealed that, already a meeting was called regarding the renovation of Town Hall. It is decided to issue a short tender notice and begin the work and complete it on priority such that it can be rented out for various programmes. We know the seriousness of the issue and all possible steps are taken to complete the work, she said.
Other issues were also discussed at the meet.
Purushotham Chitrapura deputy mayor was also present in the meeting.
