Corpn. projects to resume as contractors call off agitation

Civic body to incur debt to the tune of ₹10 crore to clear dues

Work on Kochi Corporation projects is likely to resume soon, with contractors withdrawing their strike on Saturday. But the withdrawal is subject to the civic body incurring debt to the tune of ₹10 crore to pay its dues to contractors.

The strike was launched on December 12 to demand long overdue payments from the civic body, bringing work on drainage, roads and constructions to a grinding halt. Contractors were only willing to take up pothole-filling to avoid inconvenience to commuters, said K.A. David, secretary, Cochin Corporation Contractors’ Association, which comprises around 80 contractors.

An amount of around ₹33 crore was due to contractors, according to M.B. Muraleedharan, member of the standing committee for finance.

However, Mr. David said work worth ₹90 crore had been completed, and payments were pending from July 2017 onwards. But the corporation’s engineers had billed only work amounting to around ₹33 crore, citing shortage of bill books, he added. With treasury restrictions, bills worth around ₹15 crore are also awaiting State Government approval under the corporation’s Plan fund.

The strike was withdrawn on condition that ₹10 crore would be paid up by January 15. The other conditions the contractors had put forth in a statement to the corporation were that payments must be made within a year for work taken up under the civic body’s own funds, and bill books must be procured at the earliest.

A proposal to obtain a loan of ₹10 crore to pay around four months of dues to contractors will be discussed at the next corporation council meeting.

Meanwhile, Deputy Mayor K.R. Premakumar attributed the delay in payment to severe shortage of funds. “The strike had stalled work, and contractors were even unwilling to respond to calls for tenders,” he said. A meeting was held last week with Mr. Premakumar, works standing committee chairperson P.M. Harris, Mr. Muraleedharan, Mr. David, and Mr. Kumbalam Ravi, president of contractors’ forum.

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