Kerala govt to re-examine MC Road contract files; probe extends to Gyanesh Kumar

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A report suggests the Kerala government would go back to inspect in detail the contract files linked to the suicide of Lee See Been, the former Chief Project Manager of an Indo-Malaysian joint venture named PATI-BEL, the company that executed the Kerala State Transport Project (KSTP) for the reconstruction of the MC Road.

The present chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar was the then Public Works Secretary. Lee had told colleagues that certain high-ranking government officials were putting pressure on him by demanding bribes. Reports indicate that his suicide note also contained details regarding this matter. There is no doubt that if the government decides to reopen the investigation, the probe would extend to the Public Works officials of that time, including Gyanesh.

The consortium had a contract worth Rs 215 crore to construct a 127-kilometre stretch of the MC Road. The consortium comprised the Malaysian company PATI and the Kerala-based Bhagiratha Engineering Limited. According to the contract, construction was scheduled for completion by December 2005. However, as the work remained unfinished, the deadline was extended to May 2006. When the project remained incomplete, the government withheld bills amounting to Rs 17 crore. The contractors owed Rs 12.5 crore to various agencies.

Lee fell into depression after the government withheld the funds. Lee informed his company heads of the government's decision to withhold funds. The company said they would not pay compensation for the government's failure to acquire and hand over the land on time. This decision left Lee in deep mental distress. Subsequently, Lee returned to his hometown, Kuala Lumpur. He was found hanging beneath an iron bridge near a lake at Subang Ria Park in Malaysia. Reports indicate that his suicide note mentioned the rampant corruption among officials in Kerala. In 2007, the government paid Rs 35 crore in compensation to the company; the MC Road project had incurred crores in additional expenditure.