Substandard materials used in Lalmonirhat road work
The contractor of the under-construction Sreekhata Sonamari-Khodorpara road in Kaliganj upazila has not yet removed the substandard materials from the site although he was sent letters by Lalmonirhat Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), asking him to remove those by November 4.
Senior Assistant Engineer of Lalmonirhat Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), also acting Kaliganj Upazila Engineer, Md Masuduzzaman sent three letters to the contractor, asking him to use standard materials according to the schedule after removing the substandard materials by November 4. However, the contractor did not respond to the letters, he said.
Masuduzzaman told this correspondent that contractor Abdul Hakim got the work order for constructing the 1,872-metre-long road at an estimate cost of Tk 93.99 lakh during the current fiscal year, and sub-contractor Ataur Rahman Majhi started construction in July this year.
Construction was stopped as the locals strongly protested against the use of substandard materials, which violated the terms of the schedule, he said. “LGED authorities will take necessary steps against the contractor as he disobeyed our order,” he said.
Golam Mostafa of Sonamari village alleged that the sub-contractor used rejected bricks on the road instead of first-class bricks. The sub-contractor is owner of a brick kiln in the village and rejected bricks from the kiln are being used for constructing the road during the night, he added.
LGED authorities ordered the contractor to remove the substandard materials by November 4, but those had not been removed as of yesterday noon due to unknown reason, said Azizar Rahman of the village.
If the rejected bricks get slightly wet during rainfall, they will get damaged and the newly constructed road will become unfit for vehicular movement, he said, demanding construction of the road according to the schedule.
“If the rejected bricks are not removed from the site, we villagers will not allow the contractor or LGED officials to restart the construction work as we are united,” said Parshuram Chandra, 48, of Sreekhata village.
Contractor Abdul Hakim said he is not aware of the matter as the sub-contractor Ataur Rahman Majhi took the work using his (Hakim's) licence, so the sub-contractor is responsible for this situation.
Sub-contractor Ataur Rahman Majhi told this correspondent that he used some substandard bricks as first-class bricks are not available at this time in the area. “I will complete construction of the road according to the schedule,” he said, adding that he did not disobey the LGED authorities' order.
Lalmonirhat LGED Executive Engineer AKM Amiruzzaman said the sub-contractor was not given any payment and he will not get any payment if he does not do the construction work according to schedule after removing the substandard materials.
“We are preparing to invalidate the contractor's licence,” he added.
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