Kochi corporation to take Rs 10 crore loan to pay bills

KOCHI: The cash-strapped city corporation has decided to take a loan of Rs 10 crore from a private bank to settle contractors’ bills. A resolution in this regard has been passed unanimously during a meeting of the corporation council on Monday. “The state government has given its approval for taking overdraft from the bank,” said mayor Soumini Jain. The contractors are up in arms against the indefinite delay in clearing the bills and have threatened to go on strike.

The civic body now owes them nearly Rs 33 crore. Deputy mayor T.J. Vinod while participating in the debate said the reports on dues of the huge amount - more than Rs 65 crore - to contractors were baseless. As per the latest statistics, only Rs 33 crore is pending. “It is not for the first time that the civic body is taking a loan to clear bills and several overdrafts taken earlier were repaid promptly,” he said.

However, CPM councillor V.P Chandran sharply criticised the 'poor financial management' which led to the situation. “The civic body is neck deep in fiscal crisis, finding it difficult to stay afloat. Due to denial of payments, contractors have either slowed down or stopped civil works. Though the Opposition has urged to publish a white paper on the fiscal health, the mayor laughed it off,” he alleged.

He says the corporation can raise enough funds to clear dues if the taxes and arrears are promptly collected. Some of the ruling councillors like Joseph P.J. also observed that there should be a proper financial management system to avoid late payment of contractors’ bills.

“A major reason for poor quality of roads and other civil works is the delay in clearing their bills,” he observed. Opposition leader K.J Antony shared the views while supporting the decision to take overdraft.   The other topic debated at the meeting include lapses in waste removal, mosquito menace, increasing infectious diseases in western Kochi areas and issues in advertisement tax collection.