Kerala - Kochi   

Uproar in council over garbage issue

KOCHI: The city Corporation Council meeting held on Saturday witnessed stormy scenes as the garbage issue once again took centre stage.

Criticising District Collector A.P.M. Mohammed Hanish, entrusted with garbage management in the city, councillors alleged that he had usurped the powers of the council and was taking unilateral decisions.

Mayor Mercy Williams came in for flak for making advance payments for garbage removal without receiving appropriate bills, vouchers and expenditure statements.

Ms. Williams said a monitoring committee, including the Mayor, to oversee garbage management had not been formed though the government had proposed it while entrusting the job to the Collector. She said the Collector had declined to present bills and vouchers despite repeated requests.

This drew sharp comments from the councillors who termed it an affront to the Mayor and the Council. They demanded immediate formation of the monitoring committee.

K.J. Antony, councillor, first raised the issue, alleging that the corporation was incurring huge financial liabilities for transportation of waste. V.J. Hycinth said large-scale corruption was taking place in the name of waste removal. Since the Collector had taken over the responsibility, transportation expenses alone had increased by 25 per cent, he said.

T.J. Vinod said the council was in the dark about the payments made for waste removal. Leader of the Opposition A.B. Sabu sought accounts showing day-to-day expenses. Demanding transparency, Sabu George asked for the number of lorries deployed for the operation and related details.

Pandemonium broke loose when the Accounts Officer, following repeated demands by the councillors, revealed that Rs.45 lakh was paid for garbage removal in November alone. N. Venugopal asked for detailed accounts of the payments made since the Collector had been entrusted with the job. The Accounts Officer’s request for time to present details infuriated the councillors.

Following this, Ms. Williams proposed presenting a ‘rough estimate’ of the expenditure incurred. This led to fresh arguments about the propriety of the Mayor presenting the accounts without placing it before the committees concerned.

Ms. Williams wound up the meeting saying the opinion of the councillors would be conveyed to the government and the Collector.

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