Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Apr 27: The All Kashmir Hot Mix Plant Owners (HMPOs) Association today threatened to shut operation, citing unpaid dues dating back to 2016 and a series of policy and operational bottlenecks impacting developmental works in Kashmir.
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Addressing a press conference here, Association’s president, Bashir Ahmad Khan said liabilities for works executed between 2016 and 2019 have been “duly admitted” by the Public Works Department (PWD) but payments remain pending, putting contractors under severe financial strain.
He said the prevailing system, where contractors invest upfront and are reimbursed later, has worsened due to delays and what he termed arbitrary functioning by officials.
“Tenders are being issued without availability of funds, and officers are running things at their will,” Khan alleged.
The Association listed several other issues requiring urgent redressal, including the lack of empanelment of hot mix plants by the PWD and the absence of a clear mechanism by the mining department to identify and regulate sources of construction material used in Government works.
This, Khan said, has created a “haphazard” system, making it difficult for contractors to procure raw material and slowing the pace of development.
Raising concerns over quality, Khan said earlier norms-framed by expert engineers-restricted macadamization works to contractors possessing requisite plant, machinery and skilled manpower.
“That precedence has been set aside in recent years, leading to complaints about poor quality of macadamized roads,” he said.
The Association also flagged cost escalation due to global factors, saying rising prices of bitumen, diesel and light diesel oil (LDO) have rendered earlier project estimates unviable.
“The Government must revise cost estimates which were fixed months ago,” Khan said.
It further demanded revocation of Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) in bitumen works, alleging that the requirement has restricted fair participation of civil contractors and contributed to substandard road quality.
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