Irked by the delay by the State government to complete construction of the building of District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) at Sakwang, South West Khasi Hills District, the Dorbar Ri Khaiñ Lyngdoh Sakwang which donated the land for the project has yesterday stopped the construction work.
Speaking to media persons, adviser of Dorbar Ri Khaiñ, Poland Sohphoh said that the Dorbar has sent a letter to the State government seeking clarification on whether the project would be completed but so that fresh agreement could be entered on the timeline for completion of the work.
“However, till date we have received no intimation from the government. What we found so far is that only a small percentage of the work has been done. The agreement signed between the government and Dorbar Khaiñ in 2012 has expired since 2017. We have sent a letter to the Director of Educational Research and Training and also to the education minister and told them that the construction work on the DIET building should be put on hold till further discussion on the matter,” Sohphoh said.
He also informed that Dorbar Khaiñ had met the then Deputy Commissioner of South West Khasi Hills, Isawanda Laloo and also had written to the government in 2019 informing about the decision by Dorbar Khaiñ to stop the construction work.
“The Director of Educational Research and Training in his letter to us has requested us to extend the term of the agreement and to allow the work to continue,” Sohphoh said.
Expressing displeasure with the delay of the project, Sohphoh said that Dorbar Khaiñ has decided to halt the construction work till the government gives clarification on the matter.
“We have nothing against the contractor. We are unhappy with the way the government is handling this matter,” Sohphoh added.
