PWD minister P K Basheer
I can assure you that the projects won’t suffer due to shortage of personnel,” PWD minister P K Basheer said. “A govt order will be issued on Monday to fill three vacant assistant executive engineer positions in Ernakulam.
“Rs 50 crore for Atlantis overbridge was allocated in the budget in 2016, but the project is yet to be realised.
However, top posts of the PWD are lying vacant, which is affecting the pace of infrastructure projects,” he said. The dedicated wing could focus entirely on the process,” he said. “Govt will swiftly implement the project as soon as the land is handed over,” he said.
Many of the projects should have been completed five to six years ago. Similarly, the proposed Goshree-Mamangalam Road and Goshree parallel bridge should be completed on time. To tackle this, the minister has requested the chief minister to assign a dedicated deputy collector (revenue) and a specialised revenue wing strictly for PWD land acquisition. “Under the proposed plan, funding will be secured through loans from financing agencies. This will enable govt to compensate property owners within three to six months. With compensation secured, full land acquisition can be completed within nine months, allowing construction to begin immediately and finish on schedule. He called on the authorities like Kochi Corporation to complete the land acquisition for critical micro-bottlenecks, such as acquiring three cents for Pachalam junction development.
Earlier, MP Hibi Eden and MLA T J Vinod, have taken up the issue with the PWD minister, stating that the key posts have been lying vacant for a long time and the same are affecting several projects.