Rabindranath Biswas
Diglipur, Dec. 05: It has been almost a month since the Office of the AE (PRI), Diglipur is closed and it is gradually turning to be a serious issue. Legions of bills of different contractors are lying on the AE’s table and as a result, they are facing acute financial constraints in making payment/wages to their labourers, a group of contractors revealed. On the other hand, all most all the running works are being thwarted as material testing is not possible in absence of the said AE, they further disclosed.
The contractors further said that they are not in a position to execute the works below ground level and all sorts of reinforcement and works below ground level including building foundations are not seeable after execution and because of this fact; they are not being allowed to execute such works.
“We are already crippled with a dire financial straits owing to pandemic situation, and the month-long closure of AE’s office and its ensuant adverse impact has added some daunting new challenges to us”, the contractors rued.
Meanwhile, as per reports, seeing no solution in sight, recently a delegation of contractors met the Secretary RD at Port Blair and apprised him of their miserable condition, and the top official is said to have assured them of an early remedy to this crisis.
The concerned authorities must look into this issue on a serious note and act accordingly for their survival, contractors working under PRI, Diglipur opined during a brief talk with Andaman Sheekha today.
