Contractors to be made responsible for project maintenance

Kathmandu, July 8

In a bid to make contractors more responsible in development of any project and ensure quality works, the government is preparing to make it mandatory for contractors to be accountable for maintenance of the project for five years.

Devendra Karki, secretary at the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, said that necessary amendments are being made in the Public Procurement Act to make contractors more responsible towards the project and one of the ways could be by signing the performance-based maintenance contract.

The government’s plan to make contractors responsible for project maintenance has come at a time when quality of different projects, especially related to roads and bridges, have been questioned in recent years.

Among others, quality of a number of bridges constructed by Pappu Construction across the country has been found to be substandard.

“We previously signed performance-based maintenance contract with contractors of a few projects, including Naranghat-Hetauda and Naranghat-Butwal road projects and it was effective. This time, we are planning to introduce such provision for all types of projects,” informed Karki.

If this happens, the government will award project contract to only those contractors that take the responsibility of maintenance of the project for five years. This will ensure that contractors do not compromise on quality of works in the project, as per Karki.

Moreover, Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Raghubir Mahaseth, while addressing the National Assembly, had said that the government will soon adopt effective ways to make contractors more responsible towards the projects they bag.