A meeting of the city Corporation council on Saturday approved the awarding of the work to revive the slaughterhouse in Kunnukuzhy to Kerala Electrical and Allied Engineering Company Limited (KEL), at a total cost of ₹9.58 crore.
But before the decision was arrived at, opposition councillors raised several objections, all of which were addressed by the Mayor. One of the objections was regarding the approval of mobilisation advance to the company, amounting to 50% of the total cost. BJP councillors said only a maximum of 20% should be given as advance.
They also questioned the expertise of KEL in implementing slaughterhouse projects. Another objection was regarding the discarding of the earlier plan to construct a modern slaughterhouse in a new building, instead of in the existing building.
Mayor V.K. Prashant said the Corporation had followed all norms in choosing KEL. The civic body had issued a tender call and a re-tender call, with only KEL responding both times.
Accredited agency
“KEL is a public sector entity, and an accredited agency, which can implement projects in various sectors. Though they initially quoted an amount of ₹11.23 crore, it could be reduced to ₹9.58 crore through negotiations by the technical committee. The initial plan was to construct a new building at Kunnukuzhy and then make a modern slaughterhouse inside that. But the pollution control board maintained that approval can be provided only if the existing building is utilised, an order which the Corporation is following now. The advance amount has to be provided to ensure that the machinery is ready by the time the civil and electrical works are over, and to finish the project within the next one year,” said the Mayor.
The ruling LDF was but on the defensive for sometime owing to an intervention by CPI councillor Solomon Vettukad relating to the working of the revenue section.
He alleged that some of the revenue inspectors often delayed the issuance of ownership certificates and building numbers, and demanded money for the same.
Corrupt officials
Though there were many honest officials, the conduct of some of these corrupt officials were bringing disrepute to the administration, he said.
The Mayor said that the Corporation had taken several steps to address the issue of pending files, most recently through adalats in all zonal offices. The number of pending files had reduced drastically owing to this, he said.
Later, LDF councillor Palayam Rajan also raised an issue regarding the conduct of some officials to welfare pension beneficiaries, which was also used by the opposition councillors to have a go at the ruling party.
