By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Nov 25: The opposition TMC has harshly criticised the MDA Government led by the NPP regarding the issue of illegal toll gates. In a scathing attack on the government, the TMC has asked Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong to leave the Secretariat and personally observe the situation on the ground.
“This whole vicious cycle should stop and the deputy chief minister should rise to the occasion and fulfil his duties and responsibilities and ensure that he performs the duty expected from his office instead of giving press statements which will only embarrass him and the government,” TMC vice president George B Lyngdoh stated on Saturday.
On Friday, Tynsong had declared that the government was taking the required action and that the illegal toll gates had been removed from state and national highways.
The vice president of TMC stated, “Instead of relying solely on fabricated reports that might give a clean chit, the deputy chief minister, who is also the Home Minister, should step out of the Secretariat and start going out to various highways and see the reality for himself. It is past time for our legislators and decision-makers to wake up to the mess the state finds itself in.”
“Is the Home Minister protecting somebody?” Lyngdoh questioned, referring to Tynsong’s inability to meet with the truckers’ association and hold a district-level review meeting. He stated that in addition to the toll gates, trucks are no longer allowed to pass through the Umiam Dam. Combining these two, he said, “You can understand why prices in Meghalaya never drop. There is a lot of inflation. Families are struggling because their savings have decreased; and if savings decline, the economy will collapse and there won’t be any investment in the state, so where will we get jobs?”
Even the Meghalaya Commercial Truck Owners & Drivers Association (MCTO&DA) has also dismissed Tynsong’s claim and alleged that illegal toll gates were still in operation.