Panaji: While the tourism department is yet to finalise and float a tender to appoint a new agency for beach-cleaning, its temporary arrangement with Drishti Life Saving for cleaning beaches ended on Wednesday.
A source said the government will extend the services of Drishti until a fresh arrangement is made. Drishti Lifesaving was appointed in December 2016 following termination of the services of two beach cleaning agencies, Ram Cleaners and Developers Pvt Ltd and Bhumika Clear Tech Services.
In its recent order, the Goa Lokayukta found then tourism minister Dilip Parulekar, guilty of "favouritism", besides other irregularities, in the beach-cleaning scam, and recommended that the anti-corruption branch reopen the case.
A source said the tender document has been drafted and forwarded for the approval of the government. "We are yet to hear from the government," the source said, adding that it has also mentioned in the file that the tourism department does not have technical expertise for beach-cleaning.
With the beach-cleaning contract of the previous BJP-led government generating a lot of heat, and repeated allegations, it was felt that the task would be handed over to the Solid Waste Management Corporation which was constituted in 2016.
Tourism minister Manohar 'Babu' Azgaonkar who belongs to the MGP — the BJP's alliance partner — announced that beach-cleaning would be done by the tourism department itself.
A source said the government will extend the services of Drishti until a fresh arrangement is made. Drishti Lifesaving was appointed in December 2016 following termination of the services of two beach cleaning agencies, Ram Cleaners and Developers Pvt Ltd and Bhumika Clear Tech Services.
In its recent order, the Goa Lokayukta found then tourism minister Dilip Parulekar, guilty of "favouritism", besides other irregularities, in the beach-cleaning scam, and recommended that the anti-corruption branch reopen the case.
A source said the tender document has been drafted and forwarded for the approval of the government. "We are yet to hear from the government," the source said, adding that it has also mentioned in the file that the tourism department does not have technical expertise for beach-cleaning.
With the beach-cleaning contract of the previous BJP-led government generating a lot of heat, and repeated allegations, it was felt that the task would be handed over to the Solid Waste Management Corporation which was constituted in 2016.
Tourism minister Manohar 'Babu' Azgaonkar who belongs to the MGP — the BJP's alliance partner — announced that beach-cleaning would be done by the tourism department itself.
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