SHILLONG, Feb 23: The government has cancelled the previous contract of re-developing one of the largest and oldest traditional markets in Jaintia Hills — Iawmusiang market — apparently after the contractor’s dilly-dallying that led to a delay in execution of the work.
The re-tendering process, however, is on.
According to Jowai MLA, Wailadmiki Shylla, the contractor had initially apprised them about some pending dues, but after those were cleared, he started construction work for a few months for only a short period. “We sent him reminders. Even after two-three reminders, he did not respond, so we have cancelled the contract and recalled the tender,” the NPP MLA informed on Wednesday.
“Re-tendering is going on and we are waiting for interested parties to come forward for the contract and we will start the construction,” he added.
Enquired if there is any price escalation, Shylla said, “According to the new tender, we have given an option to the contractor to fill the rate…then we will know how much it has gone up.”
It may be noted that the project is sponsored by the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) worth nearly Rs 19 crore.
The proposal for re-development of the market in Jowai was accorded administrative approval in July 2006 and an amount of Rs 20.09 crore was sanctioned by the DoNER Ministry, of which the first instalment — amounting to Rs 6.33 crore — was released on February 10, 2009.
The project was cleared under Non Lapsable Central Pool of Resources Scheme and it later encountered a temporary setback due to changes made in the drawings and in the DPR.
The state government requires around Rs 12-14 crore to complete the long-pending project.
It is worth mentioning that Iawmusiang market has existed since the days of the ancient Jaintia kingdom.