SHILLONG: Members of Seng Khasi Lawsohtun have denied reports of irregularities in the construction of an eco-friendly crematorium in the locality saying the project is being financed by the divisional forest officer.
Referring to media reports that blamed irregularities in Seng Khasi for the delay in the project that started in 2015, the members said in a statement issued on Sunday that the crematorium was first constructed by Devistone Swer, who is the president of the managing committee of Seng Khasi School in Lawsohtun but is not part of the executive committee.
“This was done without the knowledge of the then chairman of Seng Khasi Lawsohtun or its executive committee. Swer, who is also the present secretary of Seng Khihlang, had withdrawn Rs 15 lakh from the Forest Department but without completing even a quarter of the work,” the statement clarified.
The Seng Khasi members — president Lumbok Marbaniang, vice-president Lamkhraw Kharbuli and secretary Teiborlang Nongkynrih — said the work was defective and Seiñ Raij Jowai, which is the patentee for the crematorium, objected to it and stopped the project in 2016.
“Following the intervention of local MDC Ricky Shullai, a fresh understanding was arrived at between Seiñ Raij Jowai and the new leadership of Seng Khasi Lawsohtun and the work was thus handed over to Seiñ Raij Jowai,” the statement said.
The construction started again on October 23, 2017, after the new president of Seng Khasi Lawsohtun was issued two cheques amounting to Rs 2 lakh and Rs 3 lakh.
“At this point we would like to clarify that the work by Seiñ Raij Jowai and the new leadership of Seng Khasi Lawsohtun was carried out without a copy of the MOA with the Forest Department,” it said.
When a senior member of the Jylli Pyrkhat Kam (Executive Committee) pointed out this anomaly, the new leadership of Seng Khasi Lawsohtun made several efforts to obtain a copy of the MOA. However, Swer refused to give, claiming that he had misplaced it. The Forest Department too initially refused to oblige, it added.
It was only with the help of the then divisional forest officer, LJ Syiemïong, that Seng Khasi Lawsohtun was given a copy of the original MOA on December 6 last year.
However, the Seng Khasi Lawsohtun members found anomalies in the document, which had fake names of president and secretary. “The question here is how the Forest Department had allotted the work to Devistone Swer when the MOA was signed by a ghost functionary …” the members asked.
They also questioned the sanctioning of Rs 15 lakh by the department, that too in the form of banker’s cheque that could be encashed anywhere, on the basis of a forged document. The money was never deposited in the account of Seng Khasi Lawsohtun.
“We would also like to mention here that because the bulk of the money was already withdrawn by Swer, without doing much work, even if the work is continued, the fund will no longer be adequate to complete the structure according to the designated plan,” the members said.
