Shillong, Nov 12: Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council chief Winston Tony Lyngdoh said the remarks made by Congress president Vincent Pala on checkgates managed by the Voice of the People Party as ‘unacceptable’.
Expressing surprise at Pala’s remark, Lyngdoh on Wednesday asserted, “To allege that VPP is converting these gates as ATMs, I cannot accept it. The gates which are required will continue to be in operation, but we will not increase the number of gates because leakage of revenue has been significant for KHADC.”
“We have been able to curb the mushrooming of checkgates. From 23 gates, we are operating only 10‑11 gates. Then how can he (Pala) say that we are converting these gates as our ATMs,” Lyngdoh, who has been holding the additional charge of the trade department as CEM, told reporters.
He also refused to comment further and requested that the question be directed to Pala, who has made the allegation.
Lyngdoh said, “I guess you need to seek clarification from him (Pala). I saw his statement alleging that since VPP came to power in KHADC, check‑gates have become our ATMs.”
He explained that during the previous Executive Committee (EC) there were 23‑24 gates, but the current EC has reduced the number to 10‑11.
He suggested the possibility of confusion with gates managed by forest departments or Syiemships of different Himas.
“From the trade and revenue department of the council, only a few gates are being operationalised by the present EC. We have maintained that we need to put up gates, but these gates are not new — they have existed for many years. We just look at their feasibility; if we feel they need to be operationalised, we continue to keep them, and if not, we remove them,” he said.
