MARGAO, SEPT 6
Road contractors on Monday boycotted the road works tenders floated by the PWD in protest against the non-payment of bills to the tune of Rs 80-100 crore.
The contractors enforced the boycott of the tenders after a meeting outside the PWD office this morning.
Secretary of the All Goa Road Contractor’s Association Tito Cardozo said that the Chief Minister had promised to release Rs 55 crore last week, but lamented that the government is yet to release the funds till date.
“The non-availability of funds has hit the contractors badly. The government has to pay to the contractors around Rs 80-100 crores. The contractors have not received the payments for more than six months despite assurances”, he said.
Saying that the non-payment of bills has affected around 1500 contractors all over Goa, Cardozo urged the government to sympathetically look into the issue and immediately release the payments.
Cardozo also lamented that there is no equitable distribution of the funds sanctioned by the government.
Last year, there were allegations that contractors from Navelim or those who carried out road works in PWD Minister, Churchill Alemao’s Navelim constituency were given priority in the matter of payments.
What has agitated the contractors is the fact that the PWD is continuing to float new tenders on the directions of the Ministers and MLAs when payments to the tune of Rs 80-100 crore is pending with the department.
The contractors have condemned ex-Director Sripad Naik and Jt Director of Accounts, Lotlikar for not releasing the cash assignments in time, causing harassment to them.
