November 22, 2016 

Muscat - The Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC) said on Monday that work on all phases of the Batinah Expressway project is on schedule as per the project deadline.

In a statement on its Twitter account, the ministry denied social media rumours that work has come to a halt due to non-payment of dues to contractors. “Work on Phase 3 has just been put on a technical hold due to non-fulfillment of contractual obligations by the contractor. It is not true that work has come to a halt because the ministry has failed to clear dues.”

MoTC said that it has cleared all dues of the contractor as per the agreement.

The ministry said that it has initiated legal action against the contractor for its failure in completing the project work as per the agreement. “The remaining work on Phase 3 will be completed by a backup contractor as per the project guidelines.”

MoTC also said that it is not a party to the pacts between subcontractors who have been hired by the main contractors to execute civil works. “We are working to clear all dues of the main contractors as per the project execution. Some payments were however delayed due to procedural issues.”

The ministry said that its representatives have met several subcontractors to look into their grievances particularly those related to payment ones. “We worked with the main contractors to clear their dues. The initiative comes as part of the efforts in supporting small and medium businesses.”

© Muscat Daily 2016