ITANAGAR, Jan 12: The All Arunachal Contractors’ Welfare Association (AACWA) has sought the intervention of the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation’s (NEEPCO) authority in having a local contractor’s pending bill cleared by Patel Engineering (which is engaged in the construction of the 600 MW Kameng HE Project under the NEEPCO).
In a complaint letter to the NEEPCO chairman, the AACWA stated that Patel Engineering had engaged one JM Enterprise, a local contractor from West Kameng district, for supplying boulders during the project construction period.
According to the ACCWA, the boulder supply bills, amounting to approximately Rs 5.60 crore, in respect of the local contractor is still lying pending with Patel Engineering ‘for the last five years, though the company has already drawn the payment from the NEEPCO.’
The AACWA alleged that Patel Engineering, instead of making any effort to pay the pending bills, is resorting to legal riggings and harassment to the local contractor.
‘We have also been informed that Patel Engineering is not willing to pay the bill and is resorting to tricky tactics to avoid the payment and abscond itself from Arunachal Pradesh as the project is on the verge of completion,’ the AACWA said.
Describing the act of Patel Engineering holding back the payment of local contractors for a long period as ‘a serious offence,’ the AACWA urged the NEEPCO authority to initiate appropriate action against Patel Engineering by stopping the payment owed to the company against the project until there is a commitment to settle the issue with the local contractor/suppliers.
