He said that the contract has been affected by the recent coronavirus pandemic, delays in payments, and lack of coordination between the relevant agencies.
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Former secretary and infrastructure expert Arjun Jung Thapa has said that the ailing contract has come to a comfortable state.
Presenting a working paper at a dialogue program on ‘Sick Contract Management’ organized by the Nepal Infrastructure Journalists Society in Kathmandu on Tuesday with stakeholders, he said that even if sick contracts are in a healthy state, they need to be reduced to zero.
‘As of Mangsir 2075, 1,848 contracts worth 118 billion were sick. The deadline for 1,032 contracts was already over. 23.60 billion in advance was yet to be collected. 5.90 billion in performance security was at risk,’ he said, ‘At that time, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority studied it and made 30-35 suggestions. It suggested adding manpower, increasing the capacity of employees, facilitating contracts, monitoring, etc. All the concerned bodies followed them. That is why more than 1,800 sick contracts have now been reduced to 4,000. Although this is a lot in itself, we have come to a healthy state. We have come from a terrible situation to a very healthy state. However, it needs to be reduced to zero.’
He said that the contract has become sick due to the recent Corona epidemic, delays in payments, lack of coordination between the concerned bodies, etc. ‘Meanwhile, the Corona epidemic came. After that, the construction entrepreneurs could not be paid for two/three years. The contract also became sick due to this,’ he said, ‘Even now, sick contracts should be managed from the practice of 2075. We should move forward with strict contract management.’
He said that the contract became sick due to insufficient budget and delays in payment. In addition, he said that 5-7 percent of the contracts were also sick due to employees. He said that there is a tendency for employees not to pay even for completed contracts. He said that compensation should be given in such contracts.
He said that in some cases, contracts also became sick due to construction entrepreneurs. Similarly, he said that the law should be improved to prevent contracts from becoming sick and competent contractors should be selected. Similarly, he says that variations and extensions should be managed.
