SHILLONG, June 22: A month since the inspection, the Central Schemes Monitoring and Vigilance Committee of the State BJP is yet to submit its report on the ‘shoddy’ construction of the Inter-State Bus Terminus at Mawlai Mawiong to the North Eastern Council (NEC).
Sources said that the Committee has not been able to finalise the report since its chairman and BJP MLA, Alexander Laloo Hek, is out of station.
However, the drafting of the report is complete but the committee still has to deliberate over its findings before officially approving it, sources said.
The report was compiled after collecting relevant details about the project, they said, adding that now there is only the wait for the chairman to convene the meeting.
On an earlier occasion as well, the meeting could not be convened since the chairperson of the East Khasi Hills monitoring committee, Bernadette Lyngdoh, was not in town.
It may be mentioned that members of the committee led by AL Hek had inspected the ISBT on May 19.
Built at a cost of Rs 48 crore, the ISBT was inaugurated by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in July last year and began operations on April 1 this year.
However, just six weeks after operations began photographs and videos of leaking roofs and cracked walls of the ISBT went viral across the state.
The state BJP had taken serious note of the reportedly shoddy construction of the ISBT.
Hek had stated that the committee will submit a report on the matter to the central government via the NEC, which funded the project.
News of the facility’s problems would give the state a bad reputation, he warned. There has already been much criticism of the lack of shuttle bus service between the ISBT and Shillong proper.
Taxi drivers have been accused of fleecing passengers but the state government has been unable to fix this issue.
DD Lapang defends govt
As paramount issues as this one still remain pertinent in the state, Chief Adviser of the National People’s Party (NPP)-led MDA Government, DD Lapang, has defended the state machinery which has recently been exposed to various allegations with regard to cases of corruption and other illegalities reported in the media.
“The government cannot just take action if the inquiry finds nothing against any individual or group who has been alleged to be involved in a act of corruption.
The inquiry which has been instituted should establish that the allegations are true,” Lapang, who is the former chief minister, said.
Admitting that there is nothing wrong with any individual or group coming forward with allegations against the government for any lapses or act of corruption, he said these kinds of charges are not new.
He recalled that here have been many instances in the past where allegations levelled against the government could not be proved despite a probe being ordered.
He went on to observe that so far along, nothing has been proven on the allegations of illegal mining and transportation of coal in the state.
“The people who are making these allegations should also provide with proof and evidence. I strongly advocate that if there are people involved in such illegalities then they should be punished. But till now nothing could be established that illegal mining and transportation of coal are going on,” the chief adviser to the government said.
Talking about MDA’s governance, Lapang said that the government has managed to do plenty for of good for the state, particularly with regard to implementation of the various central schemes.
“We have witnessed an increase in the allocation of funds for the state in many of the central schemes,” the former CM added.
