Two stories, one from Gorkha Nepal and the other from New York City USA look eerily similar. The only differences are (a) the main protagonists in Nepal are the Maoist cadres and in the US are the mafia captains (b) Mafia captains in the US are prosecuted but Maoists cadres in Nepal are not.Maoists secure tenders for construction by threat
Nepalnews, 17-Mar-2010
Contractors in the western districts of Gorkha, Tanahun and Lamjung have accused the Unified CPN (Maoist) of securing government tenders worth Rs 250 million to their supporters in exchange of commissions.
Urban Development and Building Construction Dvision office Gorkha had called for bids for various 20 projects on March 9. When the deadline for bids ended on Monday, there was one bid for each project.
There was no competition (among bidders) as there was one bid for each project, said Division Chief Suraj Babu Shrestha.
Construction entrepreneurs have said, Maoist cadres did not allow contractors other than those they had recommended to file the tenders.
Chairman of Contractors' Association, Gorkha Dhiraj Bahadur Maskey said, the entrepreneurs could not bid in the projects as the Maoists took commission and allowed only contractors close to them to file the tender.
Chairman of Western Regional Contractors Association Om Gauchan said, UCPN (Maoist) mobilised its cadres in the Division premises and prevented others from taking the form for the tender. They threatened to take physical action if anyone filed the tenders without their consent, Gauchan said.
Construction entrepreneur Buddhi Man Shrestha, who is also the chairman of Lamjung Contractors' Association, said, although they had gone to file the tenders to Gorkha, they returned without doing so after the Maoist cadres threatened to kill them.
Only contractors affiliated to the UCPN (Maoist) aligned Nepal National Contractors Association were allowed to file the contracts. Reports say, the Maoists allowed the contractors to file the tenders after the contractors promised 10 percent commission on each project.
Maoist leaders have said, the party is not involved in the tenders, but those close to the party could have been involved in individual capacity.
Maoist district secretary of Gorkha Chuda Mani Khadka claimed, they had 'managed' the tender process to keep away unprofessional contractors.
Tenders had been called for seven projects worth about Rs 130 million in Gorkha, six projects worth about 60 million in Lamjung and six projects worth about Rs 60 million in Tanahun.
Mob allegedly muscling WTC contractor
UPI, 10-Mar-2010
Eight reputed members of New York's Colombo crime family allegedly used kickbacks to get a World Trade Center contract for a mob company.
An indictment handed up Tuesday also charged the group threatened executives with a Boston contractor, Testa Inc., when it failed to make payments to the subcontractor, All Around Trucking, the New York Post reported. Prosecutors say the Colombo family threatened to bring construction on the Freedom Tower to a halt.
One of the defendants is Michael Persico, son of Carmine "The Snake" Persico, the imprisoned former head of the Colombo family. Persico, whose one previous brush with the law was an arrest for driving under the influence, was allegedly caught by wiretaps discussing how to respond to Testa's late payments.
"You want me to yoke the guy up and hit him over the (expletive) head with a coffee pot?" a man identified as reputed mobster James Bombino allegedly asks Persico, who allegedly tells him "threaten the job."
Theodore "Skinny" Persico Jr., a cousin, allegedly makes more violent threats, saying he would shoot, stab or beat up the deadbeats if the decision was his.
No comments:
Post a Comment