Mayor Tony Chammany on Saturday asked the standing committees concerned to look into the alleged irregularities in the permission given to display advertisements on lamp posts within the Corporation limits.
He said standing committees are statutory bodies comprising opposition and ruling councillors which would ensure a neutral and unbiased study of the issue.
He said attempts to deprive the Corporation of revenue would not be condoned. He admitted that he could not study the matter though the opposition had raised the issue in an earlier council meeting. Officials will be taken to task if irregularities are found, he said.
Earlier, opposition councillor C.A. Shakeer said the Corporation would allegedly lose revenue to the tune of Rs. 58 lakh because an agreement to display advertisements on lamp posts was missing.
Councillors M. Anilkumar, N.A. Shafeek, and K.N. Sunilkumar alleged that the Mayor was intentionally delaying the scrutiny of relevant files to protect corrupt officials.
The Mayor called for a meeting on September 25 at 4 p.m. to review a drinking water project, under the Kerala Sustainable Urban Development Project (KSUDP), whose pipe laying works have caused problems. The meeting, which will be attended by the officials of KSUDP and Kerala Water Authority, will discuss ways to complete the project in a time-bound manner.
Sharing the concern of councillors regarding stray dog menace, Mr. Chammany said all local bodies faced the problem thanks to the limitations imposed by existing legal provisions. He said the possibility of engaging more dog catchers under the National Rural Health Mission would be considered.
Mr. Chammany said the opposition councillors’ accusation that the Corporation council was not taken in to confidence while signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the French city Lorient to cooperate in the areas of culture and heritage conservation at the Emerging Kerala summit was misplaced.
The project was approved at a special council meeting before the MoU was signed. The decision to sign the MoU at the Emerging Kerala summit was taken merely to take advantage of the presence of the Union Minister for Tourism and the Chief Minister though the proposal was not part of the investors’ meet.
Mr. Chammany said shooting of films on Corporation roads would not be permitted without securing prior sanction from the civic body.
He said the city police commissioner would be approached to make an arrangement where the Corporation’s sanction is made mandatory before issuing police sanction for shooting on Corporation roads.
The Mayor said that the operation of health squads to check the wayside dumping of waste would be intensified and hidden cameras would be installed at more points to net litterbugs.
Mr. Chammany said the government had approved the proposal to distribute laptops to councillors. Tender formalities in this regard will be initiated next week.
Keywords: Kochi Corporation
