The Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) expressed grave concern and demanded that an independent enquiry committee must be constituted over the collapse of the Dome installed on the new Assembly building which is under still construction.
The Working President of the MPCC, Pynshngain N.Syiem expressed his surprise over a sub-contract for the construction of the new Assembly building being granted to the BRC Ltd because this company was rejected at the call of tender stage as it lacked the necessary experience. He said that it is even more shocking that Rajkhiya Nirman Nigam Ltd took up the contract for the project at a cost of Rs.127 crores when the fund was already allocated for Rs.145 crores by the State, and the question directed at the PWD (Building) is how can the BRC Ltd be given a chance to carry forward a sub-contract when it’s tender was rejected.
He further stated that how can a tender be called for Rs 145 crores while the funds released is Rs.170 crores from the Rs.217 crores which indicates that there has been a restructuring of the project estimate several times, and added that if the estimate is over Rs.200 crores then the project should have been granted to companies which are better equipped with more experience in the kind of work required.
P.N.Syiem also said that in order for everyone to be clear on the matter and for the truth to be revealed, an independent enquiry committee must be constituted from central agencies.
He demanded that the BRC Ltd must be blacklisted and should not be given a chance ever to carry out any project work in the State. He also further stated that the PWD(Building) as has been seen is a department that cannot do its job properly, and added that there will come a time when projects of the Central Government will no longer be authorised to be carried forward by this department.
Over the statement of the Executive Engineer of the PWD (Building) that the reason for the collapse of the Dome is due to its weight, the Congress leader stated that the clarification is completely baseless because the Engineer was present at the construction site all the while and he should have taken up the matter with the supervisors. P.N Syiem said that the statement of the EE is nothing else but a farce.
