Staff Reporter, Sylhet //

The contractors of the Sylhet City Corporation (SCC) are not receiving any bills even after completing the work. Despite repeated protests, they are not getting the security deposit for the work or getting it back. The contractors of the Sylhet City Corporation Contractors Welfare Association have threatened to stop the ongoing work under duress. This information was revealed in an application submitted to various departments on January 16.

Therefore, new doubts have arisen among the citizens of SCC.

The roads damaged due to heavy rains during the last monsoon season have not yet been repaired. Moreover, since many ongoing works have not been completed, the citizens are suffering from various problems. In this situation, the citizens feel that the ongoing work may be stopped if the contractors receive the money on time.

Since the work has been completed for a long time, but no bill has been received so far, they mentioned in a written application on January 16 to the Administrator, Chief Advisor, Principal Secretary to the Chief Advisor, Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Public Administration and Secretary of the Local Government Department that infrastructural development work is ongoing in almost all areas of the city.
When the government fell in August, development work was stopped in various places. But the Contractors Association of the CCIC keeps all activities going. But even though the SCC has been run by the Administrator instead of the Mayor for the last 5 months, no bill has been given for all the work completed before August 5 and the ongoing work.

After the work is completed as per the rules, no bill is being given even after the report is submitted by the Engineering Department of the SCC after the site inspection. On the contrary, time is being wasted saying that the bill will be given after the site inspection. Due to this, the contractors are in financial crisis due to not receiving the bill. On the one hand, the pressure of paying bills of the companies supplying the materials for the ongoing work, the wages of the working workers, the pressure of paying the installments of the loans taken from the bank. All this has caused extreme suffering to the contractors of the Sylhet City Corporation.

Sylhet City Corporation Contractor Welfare Association President Masum Iftekhar Rasul Shihab told The Daily Morning Sun, “We have not received the written and signed bills for the work completed on August 5. Those involved in the contracting business do business by taking loans from banks. On the one hand, the bank’s interest is increasing due to not receiving the bill money on time. On the other hand, the CIB report is also getting worse. If the CIB report is bad, the bank will not give us any loans in the future. Therefore, if we do not receive the bill money, all the ongoing activities will be forced to stop. As a result, the public suffering will increase further.

The investigation revealed that the divisional commissioner has been appointed as an administrator with additional responsibility. Therefore, the administrator finds time for the SCC after performing regular duties. It is not possible for the administrator to find time the way a public representative can manage time. Due to lack of sufficient time, it is not possible to complete all the work inspections. For the approval of any bill, the administrator and the concerned persons conduct on-site inspections. If everything is in order, then the bill is approved. Although the association has claimed that the completed work was previously inspected on-site in coordination with the engineering department and a report was submitted.

Sylhet City Corporation Contractor Welfare Association General Secretary Enayet Ahmed Rony said, we have submitted a written application to the administrator and the chief advisor regarding the bill we received. Now if the bill is not paid. Then we have no other option but to stop the work. Although work is stopped everywhere, we are the only ones who have not stopped any work in the city, thinking about the suffering of the residents of Sylhet. But we feel that not paying the bill even after completing the work is discrimination against us.

Chief Executive Officer Rezai Rafin Sarkar said, “We have not yet received a copy of the Contractors Association’s application. However, we are positive about their bills. We will take steps to quickly receive the bills of those whose work has been completed. If the quality of the work is good and the security deposit expires, the security deposit will be returned to each person.

We will welcome any of your opinions.