The Provincial Ayurvedic Hospital building construction site. Photo: Rama KC/Himal Press
SURKHET: The pace of government building construction in Karnali Province has remained sluggish. Contractors are being criticized for not completing buildings on time.
The Mehelkuna Hospital building in Surkhet was contracted to MK Lohani SK JV for Rs 217.94 million in January 2018. The company was given a 24-month timeframe to complete the project. However, even after seven years, the building remains incomplete. The contractor has managed to achieve only 75% physical progress despite receiving five deadline extensions.
The Awalaching Primary Health Center building was contracted to Caravan KR JV of Kathmandu for Rs 36.29 million in May 2021, with a plan to complete the building in 18 months. After three contract extensions, the project still remains incomplete
The case of the Provincial Ayurvedic Hospital building is no different. The project was contracted to Jagadamba Kaushil Superstar JV for Rs 97.19 million in 2021. The contractor was given an 18-month time frame to complete the project. However, the contractor has only achieved 34% physical progress despite receiving three contract extensions.
Similarly, Nagarjun Baglamukhi JV, which bagged the contract for the Provincial Public Health Laboratory building for Rs 87.15 million in 2021 has only managed to complete 70% of work.
Construction works on dozens of government buildings have remained incomplete for years thanks to the government’s apathy. However, Kamal Darlami, chief of the Federal Level Projects Implementation Unit, Surkhet, claims that his office has been working to ensure that infrastructure projects are complete within the stipulated deadlines. “The inability to complete building construction on time is due to a lack of responsibility on the part of contractors,” he added.
Construction companies, however, blame the government’s weaknesses for the delay in government building construction. Khagendra Bikram Rana, general secretary of the Nepal Construction Entrepreneurs Unity Society, Surkhet, claimed that insufficient budget allocation for multi-year projects, delays in contract extensions and design errors are some of the factors behind the delay. “The delay in securing local construction materials and contract extensions have created work challenges for construction entrepreneurs,” he said. “While the first year of multi-year projects sees sufficient budget allocation, insufficient funding in subsequent years makes the completion of the project difficult.
Darlami said projects are delayed also because contractors based outside of Surkhet are bagging projects.
