It has been 14 years since the contract for the Kankai Bridge in Jhapa, the home district of former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli. So far, only 56 percent of the progress has been made. While Oli has been Prime Minister four times in the meantime. The contract for the construction of the 725-meter-long bridge was signed on 29 Jestha 2068, and the work should have been completed on 29 Jestha 2072. The contract for which was won by Pappu-Mahadev Khimti Company JV for 349 million.

The government formed after the Gen-G movement has taken the process forward to terminate the contract of this sick project. For this, the Itahari Planning Office under the Postal Highways Directorate has issued a public notice on October 15, giving a 15-day deadline.

According to the Road Department, notices have been issued by Wednesday asking why 208 sick contracts should not be terminated. After the notice is issued, the contract will be terminated if the construction entrepreneur does not show readiness to work, said Shyam Bahadur Khadka, spokesperson for the Road Department. ‘The contract will be terminated if the work is not done, the remaining construction costs after the contract is terminated are recovered from the construction entrepreneur as government dues,’ he said. ‘The performance bond will also be confiscated.’ He said that after that, it will be sent to the Public Procurement Monitoring Office to be blacklisted.  

According to the notice issued asking ‘Why not terminate the contract?’ The contract will be terminated if the construction entrepreneur does not show readiness to work. Pappu Construction, which won the Kankai Bridge contract, has been blacklisted by the Public Procurement Monitoring Office after it also stalled other projects. It is not allowed to take up new contracts. After it was unable to complete this contract, a company in the form of a JV, Mahadev Khimti, was doing it. Mahadev Khimti Construction belongs to Ravi Singh, president of the Federation of Nepal Builders and Contractors. According to Singh, there are weaknesses in both the contracting and awarding bodies. 

‘It has been 29 months, the Planning Office has not extended the contract deadline,’ he said. ‘In the meantime, the Planning Office has also done the work, but since the deadline was not extended, the payment has not been made.’ He said that he is preparing to respond to the Planning Office’s notice asking why the contract should not be terminated. ‘I have already incurred a financial loss of Rs 200 million in this project,’ he said. ‘I have already poured 8 spans, 11 spans are yet to be poured, and a lot of the gable work has been done.’ 

The technical team of Pulchowk Engineering Campus conducted a study after a technical error was noticed in the construction of the bridge during the work, said Engineer Upendra Das, Information Officer of the Planning Office. ‘Initially, a team from the National Vigilance Center had asked Pulchowk Campus to study,’ he said, ‘Although the error was corrected accordingly, there is no further progress in the construction.’ 

Kanchharam-Bamti-Dev and Sahayar JV had taken the contract on 2075 Jestha 4 to upgrade the Kathauna-Pato-Fatepur-Katia road in Saptari under the same office. The progress of the contract, which was supposed to be completed on 2077 Mangsir 3, is only 45 percent. The contract is being taken by a construction company, Kanchharam Construction of former Assistant Minister for Energy Purna Bahadur Tamang (Kanchharam). Tamang was also an elected MP from Ramechhap on the Nepali Congress. 

Out of the 18-kilometer road to be constructed under a contract worth Rs 704.4 million, only 3 km has been blacktopped so far. ‘Although preparations were made to blacktop two kilometers, the work has not been done, this is a two-lane road,’ said Das, information officer at the Itahari Planning Office under the Postal Highways Directorate, ‘Despite years of urging to build the road, the construction contractors have not worked.’ 

The Khampache Sherpa Construction Service under the same planning office took the contract for the construction of drains and culverts on 20 kilometers of the Bhadrapur-Rajgarh road in Jhapa on Chaitra 11, 2077, but the work has not been completed yet. The contract taken for Rs 59.1 million has only 45 percent progress so far. While its work should have been completed by Asoj 10, 2079. 

The Planning Office signed a contract agreement with Lama-Bamti JV on Jestha 16, 2073 for the construction of a steel trust bridge on the West Koshi Canal. According to the agreement, its work should have been completed by Asad 15, 2075. The construction progress is only 40 percent. 'The foundation has been lifted and abandoned, the progress is not as expected,' said Information Officer Das, 'The work of installing the steel trust has not been done yet since the trench work has been completed.' Its contract amount is Rs 109.2 million. 

The construction of the Kaliakhola bridge in Saptari itself will be completed by Asad 28, 2074, and an agreement was reached with Lama-Bamti JV on Asad 29, 2072 for Rs 29.6 million. 'The work on the bridge has been completed,' said Das, 'The railing is yet to be installed, the road connecting the bridge and the river have not been controlled by the construction business.' He said that if the work is not done even now, there is no option but to break the contract. 

A notice has been issued under the Bharatpur Division Road Office, Chitwan, stating that 5 contracts will be broken. Kanchharam Construction Company has also left the work incomplete for years in the Suspension Bridge Division under the Local Infrastructure Development Department of the Ministry of Urban Development.

The suspension bridge construction contract jointly taken by the company has been found to be abandoned. The Suspension Bridge Division has issued a notice stating that it will terminate contracts that have not progressed. According to the notice, the contract for the Kamal Khola Dobhan Suspension Bridge in Jhapa was awarded on Asad 10, 2078, but the construction progress is only 25 percent. Kanchharam-Unicorn JV took the contract for Rs 36 million with a completion date of Poush 6, 2079. It has not been completed yet. 

Purna Bahadur Tamang (Kanchharam) of Kanchharam Construction said that the delay in awarding the contract without carrying out any preparatory work was due. ‘All that remains is to fabricate the suspension bridge,’ he said. ‘The deadline for road work in the Kathauna section of Saptari is till mid-Chaitum, the work will be completed within that time.’ 

He said that it would not make any difference if the government terminates the contract. ‘A contract that can be broken by law can be broken, what difference does it make, the biggest thing is the law,’ he said, ‘but who doesn’t have shortcomings in the contract? Whose weakness is it not to pay for the work done? Whose weakness is it not to clear the site?’ He said that he worked with the government by providing a deposit and bank guarantee. ‘It is not easy to break a contract as the recently arrived Minister Kulman Ghising said,’ he said, ‘The 14th Procurement Regulation has also provided the facility to extend the deadline for old projects.’ Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Ghising has said that he will break contracts that have not been completed without looking at anyone’s face. 

Even though Nilgiri Construction Service won the contract for the construction of a suspension bridge in Pilampa, Khotang on 23 Shrawan 2075 BS, the progress is low. The work of the suspension bridge, which was supposed to be completed on 19 Baisakh 2077 BS, has finally reached 60 percent. Similarly, the construction of the Buba Khola Suspension Bridge connecting Kyogma, Biring Barhadashi Suspension Bridge in Gorkha, Jhapa, Khotang and Udayapur is also stalled. Although a contract has been signed to construct a suspension bridge connecting Thumi Budhegara, Gorkha and Likhu Dhunibesi in Dhading, the work has not been completed. As per the contract signed on Asoj 12, 2078, its work should be completed by Chaitra 8, 2079. The contract amount is Rs 18.5 million. 

After the notice was issued asking why the contract should not be terminated, many construction entrepreneurs have come in contact and are talking about starting work, said Shankar Budhathoki, head of the Suspension Bridge Division, Pulchowk. "If we come in contact and start work, we will not terminate the contract immediately, the construction entrepreneurs will get the last chance to work," he said.

Aman Construction Bardiya has initiated the process of terminating the six packages taken by it for the Babai Irrigation Project after there has been no progress. Some packages have zero progress and some have only 55 percent progress. The total contract amount for the package is Rs 17.5 million. Notices have been issued after there has been no progress in 12 river control contracts under the Irrigation and Water Resources Management Project Janakpur, Dhanusha.