Oppn leader slams mantri for Rs 4cr solar ferry ‘fraud'
Leader of opposition Yuri Alemao and river navigation minister Subhash Phal Dessai sparred in the assembly on Monday after the former called the Rs 4 crore hybrid solar ferry acquired by the state a fraud.
Alemao said that the ferry ran only for three months and has been 'rotting' for three years now, with state spending a big amount on its repair and storage.
'When the note for the hybrid solar ferry was moved, the captain of ports said that it is not feasible and is unsuitable for Goa's river conditions... A red flag was there from the department. Still, it was put into operation. Now its internal wiring was eaten by rats. Minister Sudin (Ramkrishna Dhavalikar) went to Kerala with river navigation and CoP staff and said in the report that the proposal needs to be studied by an expert.
Despite recommendations to recheck the viability of the solar ferries, why did the department go ahead and purchase it?' Alemao said.
Phal Dessai said that the solar ferry was found to have 'inadequate specifications' and the department tried to repair and operate it, but there were not enough passengers to make it viable. 'We issued a tender, but no one wanted to take it, so we tendered for its use, and we got a quote where Rs 1.7 lakh per month will be generated.
We will operate it again soon,' he said.
'Solar ferry was a mission commission. This is a fraud of Rs 4 crore,' Alemao said. Phal Dessai said that as part of the defect liability period, an outstanding amount of Rs 59.4 lakh has still not been paid for the ferry to the contractor, and a complaint with the directorate of industries has been filed.
Rs 35 crore was spent over six years by state govt to maintain all its ferry boats, which are now 15 to 20 years old, govt could have procured new ferries, Alemao said during question hour and asked whether any cost analysis had been done on this expenditure.'Thirty-two ferries are being operated on 18 routes, each ferry boat costs Rs 30 to 40 crore to purchase, so don't you think we need to spend on maintenance? The boats run 18 hours a day, there is wear and tear.
The load is huge on ferries. We have not scrapped them; we are maintaining and using them for 15 to 20 years. The CoP is certifying the seaworthiness of the ferries, and based on that, we are keeping them operational,' Phal Dessai said.
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