Conspiracy at the highest levels of govt: RPP

Incomplete road projects in Meluri further unravels

Morung Express News
Dimapur | May 25

The Rising People’s Party (RPP) has gone public with the information it obtained with regard to three incomplete road projects in Meluri sub-division, which was recently published by The Morung Express.

Revealing the RTI documents at a press conference in Dimapur, on May 24, the party held that the amount of money involved only pointed to patronage at the highest levels of government. RPP President, Joel Naga said, “This is a conspiracy at the highest level. The Finance Department, as we know, is held by the Chief Minister. It has been so for the last 15 years. This could not have been possible without the knowledge of the Chief Minister. This is distressing.”

The projects in question involves three roads— Lephori to Molhe Post (26 km), Akhen to Star Lake (15 Km) and T0-1 to Kanjang (38 km). They are part of one stretch of road, which branches out from NH 202, connecting Mathikhrü, Lephori, Kanjang and Akhen to culminate at Molhe Post and Star Lake near the Indo-Myanmar border.

The works were awarded to Rhino Construction Agency and Nagaland Steel Engineering Works, which are said to be registered to one individual contractor. The first two projects had a combined value of over Rs 65cr, while the third worth over Rs 5cr. Citing the RTI papers, Joel said that some Rs 60cr has been released by the state government for the said two roads, while there is not much to show on the ground.

According to him, the incomplete projects came to light during the RPP’s Nagaland walkathon earlier this year. They later sought information under the RTI Act revealing what the RPP termed as “fraudulent withdrawal (of fund) but no work.”

Following the RTI revelations and the subsequent spot verification, he said that the RPP filed an FIR at Meluri Police Station against the contractor and the PWD on April 11. However, he claimed that the police have yet to register a case.

He said, “The police should have registered at case by now. I think the state government is stopping the police from registering a case,” while adding, “We heard that preliminary investigation was on. But for how long can it go on?”
Joel further accused the contractor of making “his own road” to run an illegal logging business along the border with Myanmar. While stating that the party confirmed this via spot verification, he said that a saw mill has also been set up by the contractor adjacent to Border Pillar 130, located around 5-10 km inside the forest from Akhen village.

He held that the state Forest Department is also hand in glove as to allow it despite a standing directive from the Supreme Court banning rampant logging.

Village Councils threatened
The RPP further accused the contractor of threatening the Village Councils of Kanjang, Mathikhrü, Lephori and Akhen for voicing out against the incomplete road projects. Vitho Zao, RPP Treasurer, said, “The people of the area have been complaining this for a long time. A court case is also going on. The Department is not willing to entertain them with their grievances.”

According to him, the chairpersons of the said four villages were threatened by the contractor, recently. He claimed that the incident happened on April 29 in Kohima, at the office of the Chief Engineer (Roads & Bridges). “In the evening (sometime) after 7:00pm, they were called to the Chief Engineer’s office. They wanted to give a letter to the Department, an ultimatum to the Department” where the contractor of the road projects also allegedly turned up.

During the meeting, he said that the chairpersons of the 4 village councils were threatened of dire consequences in the presence of the Chief Engineer. He alleged that the contractor also called “some boys” over phone to intimidate them, immediately following which the village leaders left the office fearing for their safety.

He questioned as to how the alleged incident could be allowed in a public office, asking, “Where is the law and order?”
While stating that the intimidation began since the villagers started raising concerns about the projects, he said, “This is a serious issue, which the state government must look into.”
Shutdown illegal sawmill at Akhen village: RPP to PCCF

DIMAPUR, MAY 24 (MExN): The Rising People’s Party (RPP) has written to the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) to immediately shut down an “illegal” sawmill located at Akhen village.

RPP President, Joel Naga and General Secretary, Amai Chingkhu, in their letter, informed that “after thorough investigation and physical touring,” it was found that the sawmill at Akhen Village, under Lephori EAC HQ, Meluri, Phek under the ownership of one L Metha is “Illegal.”

It said that the sawmill is not set up in an ‘Industrial Estate’ as should be according to the Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change (Survey and Utilization division) Resolution of 2017 for the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim.

“Any sawmill must only be setup with prior approval from the State Level Committee and operational in accordance with the license granted or renewed by an Officer authorized by the State Government in this regard (DFO or equivalent),” the RPP said.

It also accused the sawmill owner of buying “large tracts of virgin forests in Akhen area contiguous to Burma” and engaging in “felling of trees for the last decade or so.” Under what relevant section of the law is the Forest department allowing this operation to happen, the questioned.

It further questioned how the said sawmill was granted license to operate when it is located outside an ‘Industrial Estate.’

Accusing the sawmill owner of engaging in “fraudulent withdrawal of funds amounting to tens of Crores of rupees without undertaking/completing the road projects in the said area,” the RPP claimed that “there is a clear connection between the fraudulent withdrawals and his logging operation.”

It further stated that if this operation continues with the Forest Department “pretending to sleep,” then “there’ll be no virgin forest left in Meluri sub-division.”

The RPP demanded immediate shutdown of the saw mill and action to be taken against the person(s) responsible. It further demanded that a response has to be intimated to the office of the RPP within a period of 11 days.

Source: https://morungexpress.com/conspiracy-at-the-highest-levels-of-govt-rpp