Road development: Minister refutes charge

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs M. Vijayakumar on Friday refuted Leader of the Opposition Oommen Chandys contention that the development of city roads in Thiruvananthapuram was dragging on under the Left Democratic Front (LDF) rule.

The Minister told a press conference that the city development project begun by the previous government could not go on because the contracts had been awarded without acquiring land for the work. The present government had completed land acquisition and the work was resumed on July 31, 2009. As per the revised contract, the work was to be completed by October this year. He had conducted a review of the progress of the work on Friday.