Okhaldhunga, June 6

Authorities in Okhaldhunga have started taking action against contractors who failed to complete projects on time.

“Following the government’s direction, we’ve started taking action against contractors who were found negligent with their work,” said Chief District Officer Janakraj Panta, adding that over five dozen contractors in the district are likely to face action for not completing their work on time.”We don’t want to say outright how many people we’ll take action against. We’ll make them public once they are held,” he said, ruling out any chance of pardon or extension of the contract period or the likes this time.

District Coordination Committee Chairperson Jaya Bahadur Shrestha praised the government’s recent ruling, saying development activities wouldn’t really crank up unless action was taken against contractors who left projects incomplete.

“The contractors who have left work in limbo for years must be arrested. There is no other way,” he observed.

Meanwhile, the recent tough stance of the administration has created panic among contractors, who left their projects in limbo for many years. Most of them have gone out of contact.

On Monday, police arrested Rabindra Lama, sub-contractor of Rajendra Lokapriya JV, a company that has been entrusted with the construction of a concrete bridge over Molungkhola.

Barely four per cent work of the bridge linking Molung Rural Municipality and Sunkoshi Rural Municipality was completed in the last five years. The project was expected to be completed in two years’ time.