‘Cuncolim Freedom Fighters Memorial: Triplication of Work or Recovery of Funds?’

Margao : The so-called repair of the Freedom Fighters’ Memorial at Cuncolim has shockingly turned into a textbook case of possible financial mismanagement and total lack of accountability, stretching endlessly across five years, while the memorial itself continues to cry for attention, charged Niz Cuncolkar Vishal Pai Cacode.

“The people of Cuncolim deserve clarity. Is this a case of triplication of the same project, or an attempt to retrospectively adjust or recover earlier private expenditure through public funds? Either way, such financial ambiguity involving a memorial dedicated to our Freedom Fighters is unacceptable and deeply disrespectful,” Vishal Pai Cacode said.

Records show that on 6th April 2021, the Cuncolim Municipal Council passed a resolution for repair work to be undertaken using funds of local MLA Yuri Alemao. Two years later, on 27th February 2023, the very same council floated a fresh tender for the same repair work. Now, in 2026, the file is learnt to be pending yet again for approval with SE-III of the Public Works Department Goa, pointed out Pai Cacode.

“This raises serious questions. If funds were already provided in 2021, where were they spent? Why was a second tender necessary in 2023? And why is the same repair file now seeking clearance from PWD in 2026 without any visible work on the ground?” he asked, adding that the situation gives the impression that the same work is being processed repeatedly on paper while nothing moves at the site.

He stated that it is now for the Cuncolim Municipal Council and MLA-cum-Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao to place full facts before the public and clarify whether this is duplication of sanctions, recycling of files, or an attempt to recover earlier expenditure through fresh public funds. Public money cannot be treated as a revolving door.

Ironically, despite tall announcements and promises by the council & local MLA, the Freedom Fighters’ Memorial continues to decay. Pai Cacode appreciated local resident and social activist Vijay Prabhu for exposing the recent defacement of the memorial, which finally compelled the authorities to at least clean the monument. “Sadly, it takes citizens to protect what the administration has failed to safeguard,” he remarked.