State government owes contractors Rs. 90 crore

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, July 28, 2012: The DK and Udupi Public Works Department Contractors’ Association has announced its intention not to take up any road repair or construction projects till the state government clears their pending bills worth Rs. 90 crore. 

Radhakrishna Naik, president of the DK unit of the association, told reporters at a press meet held in Press Club today that the state government is yet to clear bills worth Rs. 90 crore for completing various projects. Around 150 contractors have been put through a lot of inconvenience owing to this apathy on the part of the state government, he said, adding that contractors are no longer willing to take up any project till the government clears pending bills.

He further said that appeals presented to C. T. Ravi, district-in-charge minister for DK, and D. V. Sadananda Gowda, former chief minister of Karnataka, have been ignored. 

Speaking on the occasion, Shivaram Shetty, president of the Udupi unit of the association, said that contractors have incurred huge financial loss because they have invested a lot of money and the government has not made the payments. Moreover, they have to pay interest on loans taken from banks, he added. He urged the government to at least pay back the money contractors have invested in these projects. 

Mr. Shetty also said that contractors took up projects of filling potholes out of social concern although the government has not made any payments, but now they have run out of patience. Stating that the public believes that contractors shirk work, he said that the public is not aware of the problems of contractors. 

Stating that roads are in a bad condition because of the government’s negligence, Mr. Shetty said that the government is supposed to resurface roads once every six years, but several roads in the district have not been resurfaced for the past 10 – 12 years.