Assembly has no role in the appointment of a third party audit probing the dome collapse: Speaker

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaOctober 4, 2022

Assembly Speaker Metbah Lyngdoh on Tuesday categorically denied that the Assembly Secretariat has any role in the appointment of the third party audit to investigate into the collapse of the dome of its new building at Mawdiangdiang. 

“Assembly has no role to play,” Lyngdoh told reporters when responded to a query on the question being raised against the government’s decision to appoint IIT Guwahati, which alleged is linked to the two contractors of the project – as a third party audit to investigate into the dome collapse.

Lyngdoh, who is also heading the High Powered Committee (HPC), said, “I don’t now anything about that (IITG being linked to the two contractors).”

When asked how come the project was allotted to disqualified contractors, the Assembly Speaker said, “You please talk to the government and to the PWD department it is not the concern of the Assembly.”

He added, “It is up to the government. You ask the government about this question not me, I mean how will I say I don’t know anything about this matter which you have asked.”

On September 30, the opposition All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) has demanded appointment of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Rourkee for conducting a fresh audit into the collapse of the dome of the Assembly building at Mawdiangdiang.

The opposition also asserted the need to uncover the alleged illegal nexus between the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government and the two contractors – UPRNNL and Badri Rai & Co.

According to them, the government’s decision to appoint the IIT-Guwahati instead of IIT Rourkee to probe into the dome collapse was purely to shield the contractors – UPRNNL and Badri Rai & Co and to bury the incident quietly without taking any serious action against the two contractors.