Tura MDC Bernard Marak today alleged that the National People’s Party (NPP) workers are taking Chief Minister Conrad Sangma and his sister, Tura MP Agatha Sangma, for fools by withdrawing huge amounts of money from the MPLADS and SUWP funds for projects that are non-existent “ghost projects”.
“Chief Minister Conrad Sangma and Tura MP Agatha Sangma are fooled by their party workers and contractors. Misuse of public money continues as more ghost projects emerge through RTIs in Chief Minister’s South Tura constituency and Agatha Sangma’s hometown Tura,” Marak said in a statement.
He said the Right to Information requests with the Tura Municipal Board revealed dual ghost projects shown as completed under SUWP in 2018-19 but as ongoing under MPLADS since 2017-18 yet are, in reality, non-existent.
“Among many projects which got cleared as completed, I want to bring to public domain a particular graveyard shed at my locality (Kongbe Ading) where one party worker has got Rs 3 lakh sanctioned from MPLADS in 2017-18 for the graveyard waiting shed at Ranggira (which actually refers to Kongbe Ading graveyard). She got another Rs 1 lakh sanctioned from CM’s SUWP in 2018-19 for RCC shed at Kongbe Ading graveyard which is shown as completed in RTI but the only shed that stands in that graveyard is the temporary shed constructed by the public,” he said.
Marak said that this graveyard is used by Kongbe Ading and Ranggira localities so both the sanctions were made for the same shed in one woman’s name.
When inspected, though, the only shed that was found in that graveyard was the one constructed by the public through their own means.
“Moreover, the graveyard belongs to Kongbe Ading, which does not fall under the municipality, but that worker somehow got it sanctioned through the municipality without public knowledge and the officials certified the shed as completed without doing physical verification. Villagers were suppressed by the party workers from bringing out the fact, so this statement is released,” the BJP MDC said.
