Contractors to be blacklisted if quality roads not delivered
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TR Zeliang addressing the inaugural session of NITex at the Agri Expo site in Dimapur on Nov. 24.[/caption]
Eastern Mirror Desk
Dimapur, Nov. 24: Chief Minister TR Zeliang has assured the citizens of Dimapur that construction work will begin soon on a number of important roads in the district.
The roads: the four-lane road from Purana Bazaar road to Chumukedima 'because work has been allotted'; another road that is said to be ‘fixed’ will be the Golaghat road up to Purana Bazaar which the government had assessed to be built as a four-lane if not for the impossible prospect that buildings would need to be knocked down first. For said reason, it was made two-lane as revised, and work upon which is due to start in December.
Other roads that will fall under the four-lane construction will be the Patkai junction area stretch, Dilai Gate and Khatkati as tenders are being finalised.
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Nagaland Chief Minister TR Zeliang inaugurating the Nagaland International Trade Expo at Dimapur, Nagaland on Friday, 24 November 2017. [/caption]
The chief minister has assured that work will start very soon.
Zeliang gave the assurance during his address to the inaugural function of the first-ever Nagaland International Trade expo (NITex) in Dimapur.
“We are planning to make good roads which will be sustainable, not repair every year where after repairing it goes back to the same position after four to five months,” said Zeliang. He explained that the government was ‘trying to fix’ the roads not just in Dimapur but in the other district headquarters too.
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Nagaland Chief Minister TR Zeliang shake hand with a stall owner at the Nagaland International Trade Expo at Dimapur, Nagaland on Friday, 24 November 2017. [/caption]
Road to Facebook
Zeliang admitted to have come across questions raised by sections of the society about the condition of roads in the state after he joined the social media, particularly the social networking sites Facebook and Twitter.
“Yes the road is bad everywhere, not only in one place; everywhere we will find bumpy roads, dusty roads...so where to start. This is a puzzle for me and my colleagues,” the chief minister said. He spoke about the road construction works that are going on in the state at the moment—citing Kohima where two companies had agreed to complete the road-work in three years and 'maintain' the existing road simultaneously.
“And after the completion of this project, the same company will maintain the construction of Dimapur to Kohima four-lane roads for four years; it is their responsibility that the road is sustainable.” He added that after the completion, the contractors will be given four more years to maintain it. If the company fails to deliver the aspect of 'road sustainability,’ he cautioned, it would be blacklisted.
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The chief minister stressed to the audience at the event—consisting of mostly school and college students—about the aspect of ‘sustainability.’ He said that many young people start working but 'keep shifting' from one priority to another.
‘I think the word sustainable is very important for all of us, particularly for the young boys and girls,’ he explained. One must set their destination to where they want to go, he said. “You cannot travel on two roads: only one road you can travel...this is the way to move forward.”
Citing well-known companies such as Uber and Airbnb—they use technology to make services assessable and affordable—Zeliang said it was important for entrepreneurs and businesses in Nagaland to learn about and adopt technology too.
“This will also give an opportunity to our youth and entrepreneurs to showcase our product to the world,” he said. The role of the state government is to promote growth in trade and business considering that Nagaland has a big potential in exporting crops like coffee, cardamom, pepper, the Raja Morich (or Naga “king chilli”) and other spices, said Zeliang.
“I will be most willing to look at policy-making intervention that would be required for businesses in Nagaland and to ensure all that is possible in the state to be done and to foster entrepreneurs and enterprises,” the chief minister assured. He had another word for business houses: businesses need to adapt to the GST regime. With regard to packaging and labelling, he added, complying with regulatory requirements and international standards are critical to meeting export potential.
The chief minister has thanked the organisers, the Business Association of Nagas, for promoting local entrepreneurs and hoped that the expo would meet its objective.
On a lighter note, while speaking about the condition of the roads, the chief minister quipped that because bumpy and dusty roads are everywhere, foreigners do ‘enjoy’ the roads in Nagaland because ‘it is different for them.’ “Tourists want something different and in these roads they find it and enjoy Nagaland and go back to their smooth roads after a good exercise,” Zeliang joked.
