Lending its support to the demand of ACAUT for a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the incomplete Doyang river bridge as published on October 16, the All Commercial Vehicles Association (ACVA), Wokha warned that since roads affect vehicle owners (like ACVA), who depend on roads for livelihood, ACVA said it will not allow the bridge to be abandoned.
ACVA in a statement by its president Yanyithung Tsopoe and secretary Y. Evungthung Ezung also countered the statement purportedly made by the chief engineer (R&B) at the state banquet hall Kohima during the colloquium on Road Connectivity held on October 10 that construction work on the bridge was abandoned.
ACVA said it would have been understandable if the bridge was abandoned without spending money but asked how can it be abandoned after a huge amount of Rs.18.49 crore was spent? ACVA said hardly 25% to 30% of the project was completed and worth around Rs.6.50 crore.
ACVA said the construction work should be completed since 75% of the project cost was released and that “just blacklisting the contractor is not enough.” It also reminded that Lotha Hoho on October 20, 2017 had filed an FIR but Wokha Police was yet to submit its report even after one year. ACVA demanded that FIR report be submitted immediately since it does not take one full year to carry out investigation.
ACVA also stated that ACAUT along with Lotha Hoho had demanded that the Executive Engineer responsible and the contractor be not allowed to “run away with the looted money”. It also asked the Nagaland Foothill Road Construction Committee (NFRCC) whether it will ensure completion the building since public would lose confidence on it (NFRCC) if no action was taken to complete the bridge.
ACVA also asked Lotha Hoho to take necessary follow-up action to ensure completion of the bridge and also to bring the “erring officials and contractor” to book.