The Dzongkhag Tender Committee of Punakha has filed a case against Lham Construction in High Court after it was not satisfied with the verdict issued by District court.
The Site Engineer, Tashi Norbu, said the construction company in question failed make progress with the construction an academic block at the Laptshakha Primary School in Punakha. It was supposed to be complete by the end of February 2012.
The Dzongkhag Court passed the verdict after about ten months saying 10 percent of the security deposit, which means 10 percent of 3.1 million, should be given to the contractor.
Tashi Norbu said the total cost of the construction is 3.1 million. “We landed up paying the whole amount. The only money left is the security deposit. That is impossible for the dzongkhag tender committee to hand over, so we appealed to the high court.”
The Dzongkhag Tender committee had handed over the construction to Lham Construction in February 2011.
The Site Engineer said they have made a full advance payment of Nu. 3.1 million to the construction company. “The payment was made in four instalments. Work was smooth until the third payment, but stopped abruptly after the fourth payment.”
Meanwhile, the Principal of Laptsakha Primary School, Tashi Dorji, says the school is in dire need of a library, class rooms, and a science lab.
“We don’t have a health care room and there is class room shortage. If the construction had been completed on time, we would have had a good place for our science equipment. At the moment, our library is very small. Our students are not able to go to the library and choose their books; the teachers instead choose the books for the students.”
The new academic block has the principal’s office, a staff room, a library, a storeroom, a science lab and a staff toilet.
Laptshakha primary school has 131 students and 10 teachers. The school is located at an uphill distance of 10 kilometres from Khuruthang town.
