PALAKKAD: They were one of the first global investors to successfully bid for a road project in Kerala 15 years ago and they lived up to their name while perfectly laying the Palakkad-Kulappully road near Shoranur.
If they had expected a pat on their back from the government and more projects as an acknowledgement for their good work, what awaited the Road Builders Malaysia (RBM) was sheer apathy, which sees them running from pillar to post for their dues all these years.
And what makes them sad is the fact that highways built elsewhere have developed potholes within months of tarring.
It was on November 7, 2002, that the RBM went for a `140 crore twin bid for the World Bank-aided projects — the Kuttipuram-Choondal road (near Guruvayur) being the other one.
Usually, the contractors complete stretches of work and once they were certified by the Kerala State Road Project, an Interim Payment Certificate is issued.
In this case, as per the initial agreement, the work was scheduled to be completed by 2004, but the failure to give encumbrance-free land after shifting the electrical cables and the Kerala Water Authority’s (KWA) pipes saw project go on first until December, 2005 and subsequently May. The last payment RBM received was on July 31, 2006.
Though a bill was submitted on August 28 that year, it was not cleared.