The contractors want the mobilisation advance fund amount to remain the same. Mobilisation advance fund is an amount given to contractors before the start of construction works.
The contractors receive 10 per cent of the total project cost as the mobilisation advance fund. But the eighth conference of the engineers, architects and planners held in June this year asked for a reduction in the fund amount to five percent.
At the annual general meeting of the Construction Association of Bhutan (CAB) yesterday, contractors requested the government not to reduce the fund amount.
“The fund is important for the contractors,” said Wangdi Gyeltshen, the General Secretary of CAB.
“They need it to start the work. The fund is used to buy materials for the project. It helps them jumpstart the works.”
The officials from Ministry of Works and Human Settlement say one of the reasons for proposing a reduction in amount is to prevent misuse of the fund by the contractors.
But contractors argued that a better option would be to punish those caught misusing the fund instead of reducing the amount.
The Information and Communications minister DN Dhungyel who attended the closing of the meeting assured the contractors that the matter will be forwarded to cabinet for further discussions.
