SHILLONG, July 29: Two major projects in the state – the Assembly building at Mawdiangdiang and the Meghalaya Engineering College (MEC) at Mawlai – are set to miss their completion deadlines, PWD (Building) Minister, Dasakhiatbha Lamare said on Thursday.
He admitted that unavailability of skilled migrant workers due to the pandemic has stalled implementation of several government projects, prominent among them being the new Assembly building in New Shillong Township and the MEC at Mawlai Kynton Massar.
“Shortage of skilled manpower has really affected the progress of the Assembly project. We had initially targeted to complete the building within January, 2022 since Meghalaya will be celebrating 50 years of statehood. However, it seems as if it would be difficult to complete the work within the targeted timeline,” the minister said.
The engineering college being constructed on the Shillong Polytechnic premises would be delayed for similar reasons, he said.
In addition, restrictions on full attendance in government offices have also compounded the problem, the minister added.
“With only 30% staff attending office, even small works like clearing files are hampered. It is only natural that implementation of major projects will also be affected due to the pandemic,” Lamare added.
The state has been beset with shortage of skilled migrant labourers since the early part of 2020 after the first wave of COVID-19 hit the state and most workers stationed in the city left for their native places.
To a query, Lamare said that the problem is not restricted only to the PWD and all departments were facing the same problem.
“We are trying to address this problem to some extent by mobilising skilled labourers from various parts of the state. However, only a handful of local labourers are capable of undertaking specialised work,” he added.
Earlier, a senior PWD official had stated they skilled workers were needed to undertake specialised work like tiling, ceiling and aluminium fittings.
The official had said that all the 120 labourers engaged in the construction of the engineering college were locals.
