AALO, 21 Dec: Expressing dismay over the inordinate delay in the construction of an outdoor stadium here in West Siang district, the residents of Aalo have threatened to launch a democratic movement against the state government.
On Tuesday, a team of the Aalo Town Public Welfare and Development Society (ATPWDS) visited the site of the ongoing construction work.
“People of Aalo are really frustrated due to the delay in the construction of the stadium,” ATPWDS chairman Kento Ete said.
He said that the team was informed by District Sports Officer (DSO) Tumto Loyi that the sports department has directed the construction agency, TK Engineering Consortium Ltd, to complete the construction of the stadium “within January next year.”
Ete, however, claimed that, “during the visit, one of the supervisors of the executing agency told us that it will take a minimum of one-year time to complete the construction work.”
Ete, a former minister, maintained that, according to their own assessment, it will take more than a year to complete the work, as the progress of work is going at a snail’s pace.
“There are only a few labourers at the work site,” he said.
“In the past 10 years, our youths have forgotten sports and are indulging in drugs and other antisocial activities,” Ete said, and added that the public would resort to a ‘No stadium, no vote’ stir.
“The people of the township are aghast and have appealed to the state government to take necessary steps for early completion of the stadium,” Ete said, and sought “appropriate action against the contractor.”
Pointing out that “the completion of the project has been delayed by over two-three years,” he said, “No chance for further delay should be given.”
Acknowledging the delay, the DSO blamed the contractor for it.
“The delay was exacerbated by the Covid pandemic, which forced many labourers to leave for their homes,” he said.
Since the project was to be completed by 2019, Loyi said that “the SPA was delinked by the finance department and no amount was sanctioned for the project.”
He said that “the state government provided funds in 2022-’23 from the state funds and the construction works picked up. But it has slowed down again, due to unknown reasons.”
Loyi said also that the chief minister himself and the state’s sports department are very concerned over the delay in the completion of the stadium.
The state government sanctioned the stadium under the 2014-’15 SPA at an estimated cost of Rs 35.28 crore, and the work started in June 2018 with a completion deadline of 36 months.
However, even after five years, the project is yet to see the light of the day.
