Thiruvananthapuram: PWD minister P A Mohammed Riyas on Wednesday said that a "micro minority" within the PWD department was working overtime to delay public works projects in Kerala.
"We will be taking an uncompromising stand against this caucus," the minister said while responding to a Calling Attention motion moved by CPI MLA and former revenue minister E Chandrasekharan in the Assembly.
Chandrasekharan wanted to know whether the government was willing to take exemplary action against contractors who were abandoning projects with impunity.
"They know there will be no action against them and so they don't think twice before abandoning a project mid-way," Chandrasekharan said.
Riyas said contractors would not have their way under the LDF dispensation. "This government should be feared by contractors who fall for wrong tendencies and show negligence in work," he said.
The minister said that the government, apart from the usual punitive measures like the imposition of fines and blacklisting, was also terminating contracts in the event of unwarranted delays. Nonetheless, the minister said even MLAs were wary of termination.
"The MLAs are concerned that there would be a delay in re-arranging the work if termination is resorted to. So MLAs are in two minds about termination," he said. "However, the Department's policy is to go for re-tender within a specific time period," he said.
Riyas said a strong disciplinary move like termination could be taken without causing unnecessary delays. He gave the example of the Thannikkandi-Chakkittappara road in Kozhikode's Perambra constituency. He said the work on this stretch was terminated and quickly re-tendered. The work was terminated on October 14, 2021, and was re-arranged within a month on November 9.
"The plan is to extend the Perambra model across the state," the minister said. "In fact, we achieved this in Perambra with great difficulty. A micro minority within the Department had acted to delay the re-tendering of works that had been terminated," the minister said.
He said contractors had been terminated from 49 works for excessive delays or failure to begin work on time. "These terminated contractors have also been asked to pay for the government's losses," the minister said.
Riyas said most PWD contractors finish work on time. He also announced in the Assembly that the Department offered incentives to contractors who completed work within the deadline.
"However, there are certain contractors who fail to begin work even after the site has been handed over. It has been found that some others refuse to finish work on time. In such cases, various punitive measures like the imposition of a fine, withdrawal of licence and blacklisting are invoked," the minister said.
