Protesting the act, twenty-one contractors have filed a joint complaint against three staff, including the office chief, at the division office.
Ram Niwas Yadav, proprietor of Riddhi Siddhi Construction, said he was denied information about the two road projects. He had approached the office after he came to know that the office was trying to award contract for two projects secretly. "When I went to the office to buy tender documents, officials told me that no tender has been announced lately. Even the acting chief, Sukha Chandra Lal Karna, said that no tender has been announced," he said.
However, acting chief Karna insisted that they had fulfilled required procedures. "We have registered bids that we received within the deadline. The tender notice was published in Bhojpuri Times on February 6," he added.
Contractors, however, said the newspaper was not published on February 6. They said more than a dozen newspaper retailers in Birgunj did not receive any copy of that newspaper on the said date.
The office didn´t open e-Bidding for these two projects, the contractors said. "The tenders have not been listed on the department´s website," they added.
Acting Chief Karna said he had no idea why the tenders were not published on the department´s website. "Milan Acharya was the chief of the office when the tender was announced. You should ask him, not me," he said.
Hira Lal Patel, proprietor of Hira Lal Construction, said the office tried to award contracts without competition in collusion with some contractors.
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