Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 22: Alleging non-payment of their pending bills worth crores, the Contractors Association has threatened to stop works on various projects in the State.
In a meeting of the Association held here today, the members expressed serious concern over the permission granted to the non-state subjects to participate in bidding process for local tenders despite the fact that not enough opportunities existed for the local contractors.
The Association demanded that small works for which the financial and technical expertise was available should be restricted to contractors registered with J&K Government as per SRO 122 of 1992. And the works for which National or International bids are mandatory should alone be thrown open for bidding by non-state subjects.
The Contractors’ body further expressed concern over the huge pendency of payments with huge liabilities, thus effecting timely completion of works. The members rued the callous approach of the R&B Department for withholding payments of works done on the pretext of financial crunch. They claimed that many contractors have taken bank loans and huge liabilities have been created with it. Many labourers could not get their payments.
They alleged that due to mis-management and huge corruption in the R&B this all is happening. They warned to stop works if pending the payments were not cleared within 15 days. They claimed liabilities of Rs 185 crore by March ending this year and additional nearly Rs 35 crore for city roads maintenance here.
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