19 contracts terminated under the Department of Water Resources and Irrigation, 37 projects under the Department of Urban Development and Building Construction are on the list for termination
What you should know
The process of terminating the contracts made by various road divisions and planning offices under the Road Department has been initiated due to lack of progress. According to the department's data, the number of such roads and bridges is 229. All of these have been placed under sick contracts. The road divisions and planning offices have now started publishing public notices giving 15 days' time as to why the contracts of those projects should not be terminated.
After the notice was issued, some construction entrepreneurs have come in touch and have expressed their commitment to work. However, the Roads Department has mentioned that some have not come in touch at all.
The highest number of sick contracts is 57 under the Roads Division, Kathmandu. The reason for the failure to complete the work was sought from the construction entrepreneurs after giving them 15 days' notice, so the process of terminating the contract will be taken up after looking into this, said Subodh Kumar Devkota, Chief of the Roads Division, Kathmandu. 'The time for issuing the notice has expired,' he said, 'We are currently looking into the written reasons given by the construction entrepreneurs for the failure to complete the work, but we will terminate most of the contracts.' Devkota informed that preparations are underway to issue more notices to terminate the contracts.
The Roads Department has also stated that contracts dating back to 2068 BS have not yet been completed. Out of the 15-day period given, 49 contracts have expired and the construction entrepreneurs have submitted reasons for not completing the work, and the department is studying them, said Shyam Bahadur Khadka, spokesperson for the department.
‘Some contracts have been completed after issuing notices, and the work on a few remaining contracts has been completed,’ he said, ‘If the specified time period has expired in some projects and there is no reasonable response and the work is not in a position to start, such contracts will be terminated legally.’
According to the Road Department, the Road Division Office in Tumlingtar has the highest number of sick contracts after Kathmandu. Notices have been published to terminate 17 contracts under this office and 15 contracts under Road Division Doti after no progress. Director General of the Urban Development and Building Construction Department, Rabindra Bohara, said that the process of terminating the contract was initiated by issuing notices after the work was not completed despite repeated opportunities. ‘We have given many opportunities to work, there is no option but to terminate,’ he said, ‘Now we will terminate the contract and initiate a new process.’
Out of the 42 sick contracts under the Building Department, 37 have been given 15 days to give notices as to why the contract should not be terminated. He said that no decision has been made on 5 contracts and that work will be allowed if progress is seen. These include the construction of a meeting hall, a health post building, and roads. “If there is no progress even after giving the opportunity, we will move forward with the process of terminating the contract,” he said.
The project offices under the Department of Water Resources and Irrigation have already terminated 19 contracts. The department has also terminated the contract of the largest contract, the Sunkoshi-Marin Diversion Multipurpose Project. The department’s Director General Mitra Baral said that the contract was terminated by issuing a notice directly after there was no progress in the work even after a long period of time since the contract was signed.
According to Section 59 of the Procurement Act, if only half of the work is completed in a project with a contract agreement, the construction businessmen have been opposing the rule that if the contract is terminated after the contract is terminated, the company that was contracted to do the remaining work will be recovered from the contractor. The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport stated that the construction businessmen are demanding that only one penalty be provided instead of several. The ministry's Joint Secretary and Spokesperson Ramhari Pokharel said that the ministry has been receiving complaints from construction entrepreneurs regarding this. "If 20 percent of the work has been completed and 80 percent is left, the act states that the government will recover the remaining amount from the construction entrepreneur," he said. "Even though we have decided accordingly, it has not been implemented. The demand of the entrepreneurs is that the act will have to be amended."
He said that the procurement act has a provision that the amount to be paid for the remaining work should not be the cost amount when the contract is signed, but according to the current time. Along with this, after the contract is terminated, the concerned project office has been sending a letter to the Public Procurement Monitoring Office to confiscate the bank guarantee and put it on the blacklist. "Even though it was said that the government will recover the remaining amount after the contract is terminated, the money has not been collected," Spokesperson Pokharel said. "This act is not practical. The conclusion has not been reached. There may be some ups and downs in this. Discussions are underway to amend Section 59 of the act through an ordinance."
