B. L. Meena, (right) after the inauguration of a renovated bungalow in Malda on Saturday. (Surajit Roy)

Malda, Oct. 26: The divisional commissioner of Jalpaiguri, B. L. Meena, has asked the public works department (PWD) and the contractor in charge to complete the construction of the new central bus terminus here by the end of this year.

Meena, who visited the construction site yesterday, expressed his displeasure over the slow pace of the work. “I will visit Malda once again to review the work. I am directly reporting to the chief minister who is very much interested in the project,” Meena told the PWD officials.

Meena told journalists that funds for the terminus had been sanctioned by the North Bengal Development Council and had been lying unutilised for the past 10 years. “Now that the work has finally begun, it should be completed by the end of this year. Otherwise, what explanation will I give to the chief minister?” he asked.

Malda district magistrate Chittaranjan Das said the work on the terminus had started last December. “The time set to complete the construction was May 31 this year. But it is a matter of shame that the construction could not be completed. The chief minister had expressed his displeasure that the sanctioned funds had not been spent for such a long time,” he said.

The district magistrate said there were many hitches which were delaying the completion and those grey areas were being sorted out by the PWD.

The executive engineer of the PWD, Sasanka Das, said the work was being delayed because of the contractor. “He has become very tardy in completing the project and sometimes, there is no work for many days. If we get rid of him now, there will be further delay.”

Balai Saha, the contractor, was present when Meena came to the site.

When contacted, Saha said he had nothing to say on the matter. “I do not want to get into any controversy.”