Councillors’ cartel gets tender jolt

Councillors’ cartel gets tender jolt
Published Date: 12/6/2008 - (NIE)

G Saravanan

Chennai, December 5: The DMK and Congress councillors on Friday prevented more than 20 ‘rebel’ contractors, who bagged projects worth Rs 1 crore a week ago without their “assent” and “knowledge,” from entering the Thiruvottiyur municipality premises. They threatened not to participate in another tender process for works valued around Rs 98 lakh.

Municipality sources said all councillors - both ruling and opposition - had a “syndicate of understanding” for allocating contracts. Developmental works, including construction of drains and roads in their wards, were awarded only to those contractors having allegiance towards them. A handsome commission to the councillor for each project awarded was an ‘unwritten law’ for all registered contractors.

But the sudden developments during last week’s tender process at the municipality is said to have “demoralised” the councillors. On November 27, the last day for filing tenders for various works, a group of five contractors reportedly sneaked in and dropped their completed tender documents into the box minutes before the official deadline. According to a contractor, who wished anonymity, the five contractors downloaded forms through the Net and completed all formalities through e-tender.

With no single form sold from the office till the deadline, councillors thought that the tender process would be postponed.Irate over the ‘slip,’ DMK councillors on Friday sat around the tender box ‘guarding’ it, while another group of the party councillors waited at the entrance to ‘deal’ with the contractors.

Confirming that no one had participated in the latest tender round on Friday, Thiruvottiyur Municipality Commissioner S Ethiraj told Express that the local body had provided good security at the premises, but not a single contractor responded to the tenders.

Asked about the ‘guarding’ of tender boxes by a group of councillors, he said: “I was busy with work inside my cabin and do not know what had happened outside.” The councillors reportedly threatened both the Commissioner and Chairman of the municipality to not to give work orders to contractors who had bidded successfully last week.

But sources in the municipality told Express that the orders could not be stopped since the contractors participated in the process legally. People in the municipality would have to live with pot-holed roads and broken or poorly maintained drains for a few more months since the re-tendering process would be initiated only after considerable time.