SHILLONG, May 27: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Friday said Design Associates, the Noida-based firm that designed the Assembly building project was appointed by the previous government.
The credentials of this firm have come under scrutiny after the Assembly dome collapsed a few days ago.
Sangma also said a team from the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati is expected to visit the Assembly site at Mawdiangdiang soon.
Opposition leader Mukul M Sangma had recently shown documents related to the CBI probe against Design Associates and Uttar Pradesh Rajkiya Nirman Nigam (UPRNN) Limited.
The chief minister told reporters that the Meghalaya Assembly building is a highly technical project and the first of its kind in the Northeast.
He said the government had written to four IITs for finding out why the dome collapsed but only IIT-Guwahati responded. He insisted that the audit by the IIT-Guwahati team will be independent and the government will take action if the report indicates any foul play.
Citing the terms and conditions, the chief minister said some parts of the project can be sub-let. These conditions existed when the previous government assigned the project to Design Associates, he added.
Reminded that the CBI had in 2018 sought files pertaining to 20 projects worth Rs 3,755 crore that Design Associates had been allotted as well as the files of UPRRN’s work on remodelling the ESI Model Hospital in Rajaji Nagar, the chief minister said a firm cannot be faulted until convictions take place. Sangma, meanwhile, channelised all the allegations and accusations leveled by the state BJP against the government as individual allegations and not that of the party and the top central leadership.
Stating that it is the BJP central leadership that had decided to support the MDA government, the CM said that if something comes from them it is a different story altogether but individuals making accusations is something that he did not want to comment on.
Talking about the findings of the inquiry report into the killing of former HNLC leader, Cheristerfield Thangkhiew, the CM said the report will be made public but there is a process that has to be followed which requires time.
“We have to go through the report in details. We have received the reports of all the three commissions that we had set up. One report is in a box weighing about 50 kg and going through that in one day is not possible,” the CM said.
Moving away to the topic of illegal toll gates, Sangma made it clear that what is not mandated from the central and the state will not be allowed.
“We are very clear that whatever the law mandates and whatever is allowed by the Centre as well as the state will be allowed and those that are not mandated and not allowed will not be allowed. It is as simple as that,” he said.
It may be recalled that the KHADC had written to the state government to allow the council and the Himas to continue to collect their taxes through toll gates which have been deemed illegal by truck owners and drivers.
The truckers’ body had alleged that they were forced to pay Rs 18,000-20,000 to the KHADC and the Himas while plying through these illegal toll gates.
