IMPHAL, Nov 1: Clarifying the charges leveled by Tamenglong Public Forum against the officials of state public works department (PWD) regarding the irregularities in the tender process of Rs 66.86 crore project under North-East Council (NEC) for the improvement of Tamenglong to Tamei Road, the chief engineer of PWD M Lokendro has said that lack of competent contractors for the said project led to the delay in timely completion of the tender process.
Speaking to mediapersons this afternoon, the PWD chief engineer stated that state PWD is following the two-envelope system of tender consisting of technical bid and financial bid as per the directives of the Central authority.
Some of the contractors were found competent after the technical bid and they are being examined for the financial bid.
The works will be finally awarded to competent contractors as per the recommendations of the tender committee consisting of the commissioners of finance and works department.
Lokendro also said work order for the said project is now under process and it will soon be issued to the competent contractors. However, the whole project has been divided into three parts for the convenience of implementing the project properly in a time-bound manner, the chief engineer said.
Moreover, the tender for the said project has been advertised in both national and local papers including the Telegraph, Hindustan Times and the Indian Express. The PWD is very much concerned for the development of roads in the remote parts of the state and there is no question of discrepancy over the implementation of works under various Central schemes, he noted.