Kathmandu, Oct 17 : The government has begun terminating long-delayed and inactive road and bridge construction contracts that have remained incomplete for years despite formal agreements.
According to the Department of Roads, the Postal Highway Directorate, the Federal Road Supervision and Monitoring Offices in Kathmandu and Itahari, and several road division offices have started procedures to cancel 17 non-performing contracts.
On Friday, the road division offices in Biratnagar, Chandranigahapur, and the Directorate each issued public notices regarding five contracts, while Nuwakot issued two, asking why these contracts should not be scrapped. Most of the contracts under termination involve bridge construction.
Minister for Energy, Water Resources, Irrigation, Physical Infrastructure, Transport, and Urban Development, Kulman Ghising, had earlier directed subordinate agencies to end the trend of contractors taking projects but leaving them incomplete for years. There are currently 258 such stalled or “sick” contracts under the Department of Roads.
Among the projects set for termination, the largest is the Kanakai Bridge in Jhapa, which has remained stalled for 14 years. The 723-meter bridge was meant to connect Jhapa Rural Municipality-2 and Gaurigunj Rural Municipality-1 under the Postal Highway Directorate.
The bridge, contracted to Pappu Mahadevkhimti Joint Venture during fiscal year 2010/11 under a “design and build” model, has achieved only about 55 percent physical and financial progress in 14 years. Minister Ghising had recently told locals that a final decision on the bridge would be made soon.
According to officials, in all projects facing termination, contractors repeatedly sought deadline extensions but still failed to complete work within the new timeframes. Construction has remained halted for years, and contractors have been absent from sites.
The agencies said that despite repeated written and verbal requests to resume work, contractors ignored the calls, violating contract terms.
The notices call on contractors to appear before authorities within 15 days with a revised work plan, credible resource mobilization proposal, and a clear commitment to complete the work. They have also been asked to provide valid reasons, with evidence, if the contracts should not be terminated.
If contractors fail to act within the deadline, the government will terminate the contracts under the Public Procurement Act, blacklist the contractors, confiscate their performance and advance guarantees, recover 10 percent interest on advances, and collect remaining work costs as government dues.
There are a total of 258 non-performing road contracts nationwide.
People's News Monitoring Service