KOCHI: With yet another World Cancer Day passing by, patients in the district and from North Kerala may have to wait for another year to seek treatment at the Cochin Cancer Research Centre (CCRC). According to officials of Inkel Ltd, construction will resume from February 10.
“We have been assured that construction of CCRC will be over by September. However, we have no confidence in the officials,” said Dr Sanil Kumar, member of Justice Krishna Iyer Movement. As part of observing the World Cancer Day, all members of the movement, led by M K Sanoo, had visited the construction site on Tuesday. “We expected the debris to have been cleared. But nothing of the sort has happened yet,” he said.
Another factor that caught their eye was the quality of the concrete. “Instead of concrete chunks, we were greeted with residues resembling ash. They were supposed to be building a concrete structure. But now we doubt it,” said Dr Sanil. So, when we are told that the very same contractor will be resuming construction with a different design, it is a great cause for worry, he said.
‘Need full-time special officer’
“For us, it is a matter of concern that the same special officer, same special project vehicle and the same contractor are still on board,” said Dr Sanil. According to him, members of the movement have written to the state health minister raising various demands. “We want a full-time IAS officer as a special officer, like how it was done for Kochi Metro Rail. This will ensure the completion of the project at the earliest and no compromises will be made when it comes to quality. It will also do the project good if a technical officer with the right professional expertise, as suggested by the assembly committee, will be appointed to monitor the daily work,” he said.
Members have also suggested that an undersecretary from the health department should be appointed to review the progress weekly.“Also, the health minister and the secretary should visit the construction site. It is unfortunate that neither of them have visited the site once in the past 18 months,” said Dr Sanil.
Inkel’s version
However, according to an Inkel official, no compromise will be made concerning quality. “If the contractor’s work is found to be suspicious, he will be replaced immediately and the work done by him will be demolished. A new tender has been floated for construction of the remaining two blocks of CRCC,” he said. According to him, all the civil works will be completed by September. “Remaining works like electricity and plumbing will be done in the following months,” said the official.