While civil works on the project are complete, the contractor is giving the building a white wash and PWD is handling electrical works
TEAM HERALD
MARGAO: Hazard a guess on the status of former PWD Minister Churchill Alemao’s ambitious Navelim panchayat ghar-cum-community hall.
Well, Churchill had inaugurated the project on his birthday two years ago, but work on the ambitious project drags on and the Rs one-crore-plus project is awaiting formal commissioning.
While the former PWD Minister defends himself on the inauguration of the incomplete project saying he had inaugurated only phase-I of the building, his successor and Fisheries Minister Avertano Furtado said the long-delayed Navelim panchayat ghar-cum-community hall will soon be complete in all respects.
Inquiries have revealed that while the civil works on the project are complete, the contractor is busy giving the building a white wash.
The PWD is presently engaged in completing the electrical works.
Commissioning of the project is likely to be further delayed as the Navelim village panchayat has sought the nod from the Director of Panchayats to use the golden jubilee funds for office cabinets of the new panchayat building.
Says Navelim Sarpanch Frank Fernandes: “The panchayat has sought permission of the Panchayat Director to use the golden jubilee grant on the office cabinets. The cabinets are estimated to cost the panchayat body Rs nine-odd lakh.”
Replying to a question, he said the panchayat would soon take a call on the commissioning of the new panchayat ghar-cum-community hall since work on the project is nearly complete.
Herald inquiries revealed that while the former Navelim MLA had inaugurated phase-I of the project comprising the ground floor, work on the first and second floors of the project was held up for nearly a year.
While initially, the contractor had slowed down the work for want of payments to the tune of Rs 30 lakh, the work later came to a complete halt for nearly a year after the new dispensation came to power since the government was inquiring into all works worth
Rs 25 lakh and above.
The work resumed after Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar’s visit to Navelim around November when
he gave the green signal for resumption of work after
inspecting the incomplete building.
