PALAKKAD: They were one of the first global investors to successfully bid for an international road project in Kerala 15 years ago; they lived up to their name while perfectly laying the Palakkad-Kullapully road near Shoranur.
If they had expected a pat on their back by 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 for all these years.
And what makes them even more 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 Rs 140 crore twin bid for the World Bank-aided projects — the Kuttipuram-Choondal road (near Guruvayur) being the other one.
Contractors usually complete stretches of work and after they are certified by the Kerala State Road Project (KSTP), an Interim Payment Certificate (IPC) 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 electric cables and the Kerala Water Authority’s (KWA) pipes saw it extend the project first to December 2005 and subsequently to May 2006. The last payment RBM received was on July 31, 2006.
Though a bill was submitted on August 28 that year, the government did not clear it.
The work continued and was finally terminated by the then LDF Government on December 6, 2006. A total of five bills were submitted for Rs 10.5 crore and the total outstanding dues have now amounted to Rs 45-Rs 50 crore.The RBM subsequently approached the Arbitration Tribunal first and later the Thiruvananthapuram District Court, both of which ruled in its favour. The government filed an appeal at the Kerala High Court and the case is pending there.
The company still maintains an office in Palakkad with skeleton staff to fight its cases. It has pulled out of Kerala, though it bids for projects in other states.The state government cites non-completion of work as per schedule as the reason for the contract termination. It also stated the costs at which the work was tendered was on the higher side. At the time of termination, RBM had completed 80 per cent of the Palakkad-Kullapully Road and 20 per cent of the Kuttipuram-Choondal road.
It was around the same time, in November 2006, that another Malaysian company PATI BEL had bid for a project connecting Muvattupuzha, Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram. Its contract was also terminated after 60 per cent of the work on the 128-km stretch was done. The total project cost was Rs 216 crore.
The suicide of PATI-BEL’s Malaysian Chief Project Manager Lee See Ben had hit media headlines back then, with the non-payment of dues amounting to Rs 13 crore by the state government pointed out as the reason.