KATHMANDU, Oct 17: The government has initiated the process of terminating contracts that have remained stalled for years despite being awarded for road and bridge construction.
The Postal Highway Directorate, the Federal Road Supervision and Monitoring Office under the Department of Roads in Kathmandu, and road division offices under Itahari, have moved forward to terminate 17 such inactive contracts.
On Friday, public notices were issued by the Road Division Offices in Biratnagar and Chandranigahapur (five each) and Nuwakot (two), asking why these 17 contracts should not be terminated. Most of these stalled contracts involve bridge construction.
Govt terminates 25 fraudulent road projects
Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Physical Infrastructure and Transport, and Urban Development Kulman Ghising had directed subordinate agencies to terminate inactive contracts to end the trend of contractors taking agreements but leaving projects incomplete. Currently, 258 contracts under the Department of Roads are inactive.
Among the contracts to be terminated, the largest is the Kankai Bridge in Jhapa. The 723-meter-long bridge, connecting Jhapa Rural Municipality–2 and Gaurigunj Rural Municipality–1, has been stalled for 14 years under the Postal Highway Directorate.
The contract was awarded to Pappu Mahadev Khimti Joint Venture (JV) in the Fiscal Year 2067/68 BS under a design-and-build model. After 14 years, the physical and financial progress of the bridge is only about 55 percent. Minister Ghising had informed local residents on October 12 that a final decision on the bridge’s construction would be made soon.
All projects facing contract termination have repeatedly received deadline extensions, but contractors have shown no interest in completing the work. The projects remain incomplete and abandoned, with contractors absent from construction sites for extended periods.
Despite repeated written and verbal requests to complete the works, the contractors have failed to show any interest, violating the contract agreements.
The public notice calls for the responsible officials to appear at the office within 15 days with a revised work schedule, a reliable plan for mobilizing resources, a commitment to complete the work, and any valid reasons with supporting evidence explaining why their contracts should not be terminated.
If the contractors fail to resume work within this period, the government will, according to the Public Procurement Act, terminate the contracts, blacklist the contractors, confiscate performance guarantees, deposits, and advance payments with 10% interest, and recover any remaining expenses required to complete the work.
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