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Construction disputes at centre
of San Jose Gurughar row
WSN Bureau
 Gurdwaras
play a central role on weaving together the Sikh community diaspora,
and proper running of a gurdwara reflects the discipline of the
community, its ability to network with each other and its genius in
creating forums where its young and old marshal new ideas for
collective good.
Unfortunately,
there are often times when factionalism and mismanagement impact the
gurdwara management, and the ongoing state of affairs at the San
Jose gurdwara presents just such a picture. The squabbles at
San Jose
gurdwara seem less about any competing turf wars regarding control
over the management but have more to do with disputes over
construction of the new premises of gurdwara, its quality controls
and non-adherence to guidelines.
Construction
Issues:
For nearly two
decades, those managing the gurdwara have been electing the
committee unanimously and there often was agreement about the
ongoing construction projects. The key disputes emerged over
construction as the Bob Dhillon faction wanted to retain its control
over all construction work. In this pursuit, it has ensured
expulsion of many members from the managing committee. The Jaswant
Singh faction did not want any control over construction work but it
did try to bring in a few guidelines to ensure the quality and cost
controls and audits but these have been resisted. Balbir Singh
Dhillon was someone who was well versed with the construction issues
and often brought the issues regarding construction, loans and
quality controls before the committee which frequently led to
quarrels.
Bob Dhillon's
record of handing out work to hand-picked contractors, using the
same contracting firms for his personal construction projects and
calling all the shots regarding the work have been the main bone of
contention. The contractors and employees have often complained
about the dictatorial attitude of Bob Dhillon. Employing the same
contractors for gurdwara work and personal projects brought in a
clear and material conflict of interest. Extravagant expenditure,
changing contractors in between an ongoing piece of work and
suddenly employing the contractors dropped months earlier were
things that happened all too frequently. Finally, the Balbir Singh
Dhillon group was able to pressurise and set up a technical
Committee under the chairmanship of Dr Sukhminder Singh. This panel
drafted a few guidelines for future but Bob Dhillon rejected such a
move.
Then a Procedure
Committee was set up that comprised members well versed with the
construction issues. They too prepared a Guideline but Bob Dhillon
lost no time in casting it to the trashbin. When Bob Dhillon refused
to listen to any counsel, then the Balbir Singh Dhillon group
started insisting that it wanted to see the entire account of the
construction work, the agreements and missives exchanged with the
contractors so that they can be assured that all money has been well
spent.
Bob Dhillon kept
on the delaying tactics and then started to expel loyalists of
Balbir Singh Dhillon and Jaswant Singh Hothi from the committee. Now
the audit of the accounts regarding the construction has become a
major issue but Bob Dhillon is saying he simply does not have any
record of the construction. This has further fuelled the suspicions
of the sangat.
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Few
suggestions to resolve the seemingly intractable situation:
1. A
complete financial audit of Phase I of the Gurdwara
construction.
2. A
Structural Audit of the Phase I to evaluate quality control in
construction.
3. Form a
committee from among those members of the sangat who have
experience of relevant construction work and ask them to prepare
guidelines and then make it mandatory for the construction work
to follow those guidelines.
4. Let an
open dialogue and discussion take place about monthly
installment payment.
5. To avoid
threats of identity theft, finger prints condition be dropped
and instead an updated list be put up every week on the notice
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About the
Construction quality:
That the quality
of the construction work is itself not up to the mark is also a
major issue. Many among the Sikh Diaspora are involved in the
construction business and the World Sikh News group too has
investigated the matter. Many Sikh contractors have said that
contractors with expertise in a particular field are being employed
for work of a different nature. There are glaring flaws in the job
done and it could become a burden for the Gurughar in future. For
example Mendoza Construction does not have the expertise of concrete
work. Appointing Harminder Singh as Project Superintendent was not a
very worthy decision as he had just come from India and to pay him
$4,000 every month when he had no experience of US building work
raised questions. Guru Electric submitting the bids within three
days also seemed improbable as bids cannot be submitted that fast.
Leakage of the new roofs, getting Guru Electric to do foundation
work and it not being an expert for commercial foundation work,
dishing out a $53,000 cheque to Michael Singh and then his
disappearance and then re-appearance and re-appointment are all
episodes of a saga that raised many an eyebrow.
Affordability
Issue:
The new building
getting completed in $18 million by itself raised doubts. The first
phase of the building over 25,000 sq ft cost about $ 12 million.
That was four years ago. The new one is five times bigger. How could
it come up for $ 18 million? Now the monthly installment comes to
about $70,000. The net income of the gurdwara is around $ 50,000.
New building will naturally cost more in terms of water, power and
maintenance. If the net income is pegged at $ 40,000, from will the
differential of $30,000 be made up? And every month? The new
Milipitas gurdwara is also coming up; it is naturally that some
sangat will be diverted there too. So the income will only come down
as a result. Now, there is talk from the Bob Dhillon group about
plans to sell off some of the gurdwara land. Many in the sangat
believe that initially only the bigger hall and the school could be
constructed and the rest could have been done once the sangat could
afford it. Now the loan conditions are such that if the loan is not
repaid in time, then the land of the gurughar will have to be sold
to prevent foreclosure.
Transparency
of ongoing Project:
Obviously,
transparency is the need of the hour. Now it is too late because Bob
Dhillon has already signed documents handing over work to
contractors of his choice. He has run roughshod over the guidelines
of the Technical Committee as well as the Procedure Committee. If
the signed contracts are not honoured, it may cost the gurughar
dearly. And it is most urgent that transparency is retained in the
remaining construction work.
About
Membership:
As per the
Constitution of the Gurughar, membership drive is on and the finger
print is also a must. Far from making membership list available to a
member of the sangat, even the committee members are not being given
access to the list and it is with Bob Dhillon's nephew Sukhdev Singh
bainiwal. He is not a member of the committee. Finger print clause
also heightens the danger of identity thefts and many sangat members
shy away from such a thing.
11 March 2009
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