The Hindu 04.09.2013
State nod for broke civic body to borrow Rs.10 cr. to clear bills
Road repair and drain works in the city may go on unhindered if the contractors of the Kochi Corporation accept part payment of their long-pending bills from the civic body.
The cash-strapped civic body has got permission from the State government to raise a loan of Rs.10 crore from the Syndicate bank for clearing the bills of its contractors. Kochi Mayor Tony Chammany shared the information with the councillors of the corporation at the council meeting held on Tuesday.
Incidentally, the contractors had earlier threatened to stop all the works of the city corporation if it failed to clear the arrears by the first week of September.
Mr. Chammany also read out the government order permitting the local body to raise the funds. The bank had offered to give the loan on condition that the corporation repays it on time. It also demanded a clearance letter from the State government as a precondition. The corporation had earlier repaid two loans of Rs.5 crore each offered by the bank.
The delay in convening a special meeting of the council to discuss the financial crisis of the civic body invited sharp criticism from a section of the ruling front councillors as well as the LDF members.
Raising the issue in the council, the Development Standing Committee chairman and ‘I’ faction councillor T.J. Vinod alleged that the Mayor was least concerned about the financial crisis.
The Mayor failed to explain to the council why a meeting was not convened as promised earlier.
The councillors had every right to know about the financial health of the local body, he said. N.A. Shafeeq, a CPI(M) councillor, too raised the issue of violation of rights of the councillors.
In his reply, Mr. Chammany said a meeting would be held on September 23 to discuss the issue. The meeting had to be postponed as details on the financial position of the body had to be collected.
