Robin Cook arrives

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, April 20 - The British Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Commonwealth Robin Cook, the first ever British Foreign Secretary to visit Nepal, today said the multiparty democracy in Nepal makes her a firm partner with Britain in development and that he was looking forward for greater ties.

Talking to reporters upon his arrival at the Tribhuvan International Airport VVIP lounge here today, Cook said "I want to see for myself and to applaud the multi-party system that has been created here in Nepal. That democratic process makes Nepal a firm partner with us in development."

He said he’ll be considering some of the British projects in Nepal during his stay here. "I’ll be considering some of the projects in Nepal and reporting on the sucess of the joint-work," said Cook. "...The whole of my visit will help lay foundation for stronger ties between the two countries."

Cook also said Britain has no intention of reducing aid to Nepal. "We have no intention of reducing aid as we know our development programme here is very successful and we welcome the partnership of the government of Nepal."

Britain’s annual aid to Nepal totals US$ 19 million. It is Nepal’s second largest bilateral donor.

He, however, added that Britain wants to see Nepal’s own business and commerce thrive and develop. "That is why we are looking forward to how we can strengthen our trade and strengthen investment in Nepal so that we can be economic partners as well as development partners," he said.

Speaking about Gurkhas, Cook said "Gurkhas are the essential part of British relations with Nepal and they have been central part of the British Army"

"I want to express my appreciation for their contribution and also to highlight the new pension awards for Gurkha soldiers," he said. "All Gurkha pensions have now atleast doubled."

Cook is visiting the British Gurkha Camp in Man Bhawan tomorrow.

When asked if the British government was going meet the demand of the Gurkha ex-servicemen on pension parity, Cook said "I’ll be happy to discuss with them the details where obviously the arrangements of pension are always complex and one of the differences of course is the length of the service between the British soldiers and the Gurkha soldiers. But these are points to be discussed."

Gurkhas are allowed to serve in the British Army for the maximum period of 15 years only. "Let us recognise what is being done. "Any Gurkha who should lose his life with the British Army will get exactly the same payment as a British servicemen and the pensions have more than doubled for most of them."

Prior to Cook’s arrival, Foreign Minister Chakra Prasad Bastola told reporters that the two sides would discuss all bilateral issues and the Gurkha issue was not in agenda. "Gurkha issue is not in our agenda but it might come in the talks," he said. "It’s a goodwill visit maybe we should we could make the most of it."

Later in the evening, Cook unveiled the plaque inaugurating the new office of the Nepal-Britain Chamber of Commerce in the British Embassy.

According to a press release issued by the British Embassy, Cook was joined by the president of the Chamber Rajendra Khetan, British Ambassador to Nepal Ronald Nash and by members of the executive committee of the Chamber.

It is the first ever office of a bilateral chamber of commerce in a British Embassy anywhere in the world.

According to the press release, Cook said: "This will build on work you have already started; promoting British wool in Nepalese carpet manufacturing and knitwear; displaying UK products and services at the recent Himalayan Expo 2000, with specific and successful opportunities for British business; and forging new and dynamic initiatives in IT and other areas."

"In the long term business investment will raise social conditions alleviate poverty," said Cook. "We hope that as trade develops and prosperity grows trade will transcend aid as the basis for the country’s development as we move together into the new millennium."

Cook is returning tomorrow.

PM seeks suggestions on self-governance

LALITPUR, April 20 (PR)- Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala today sought suggestions from the local representatives on the amendments to be made in the Local Self Governance Act.

"The government is ready to make changes in the regulations that have hindered the effective implementation of the act," said Koirala. "I want you (local representatives) to come up with suggestions for the necessary amendments to be made in the Act."

According to the local representatives, 51 articles in the regulation are either "self-contradictory" or "confusing".

Addressing the inaugural session of the third convention of District Development Committee Federation and sixth council meeting, Koirala urged the local bodies to seek consensus at the grass roots level. "This would inspire us in the parliament to seek consensus with other parties, at least in development issues."

Stating that the country had been used as a "playground" by "various forces", he said, "we could discourage these forces to use our land as playground if we can establish consensus amongst ourselves." He, however, did not elaborate on what he meant by the "various forces".

According to State Minister for Local Development Suresh Malla, the government would soon implement the recommendations of the Finance Commission to make the local bodies more effective. The committee is expected to submit its report by mid-June. The committee has representatives from DDC Federation, VDC Federation and municipal corporations.

He said the government would soon launch orientation programmes for the local representatives and officials at the local bodies to make them aware of Local Self Governance Act, regulations and main features of the system.

"The Local Governance Programme (LGP) and Participatory District Development Programme (PDDP) are focussed on enhancing the skills of the officials as well as the representatives," said Malla.

Madhav Poudel, president of the federation stressed on the need of amendments in the regulation for the effective implementation of the act.

"The right granted by the act to the local bodies has been blocked by the regulation," said Poudel. He said that the local bodies had been facing cases in court due to the "confused provisions in the act".

EU team arrives

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, April 20 - A nine-member delegation of the Members of Parliament of the European Union (EU) arrived here today on a two-days visit.

According to the Foreign Ministry, the delegation headed by Gerard Collns, chairperson of the Subcommittee on South Asia and SAARC will hold a meeting with the parliamentary committeee on Foreign Affairs and Human Rights headed by Som Prasad Pandey.

Foreign Secretary Narayan Shumsher Thapa will then brief the delegation about the situation of Bhutanese refugees and discuss Nepal-EU bilateral relations.

The delegation will visit the refugee camps in Jhapa on April 22.

The delegation will pay a courtesy call to His Majesty the King. They are also expected to call on Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chairman of the National Assembly, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Finance during their stay here.

Similar delegation had visited Nepal on an invitation of the Foreign Affairs and Human Rights Committee more than two years back.

Nirmal Lama feted
Blames corruption for all ills

By a Post Reporter

Former Prime Minister Krishna P. Bhattarai felicitating senior leftist leader Nirmal Lame at a civic function on Thursday. Lama, one of the drafters of the present constitution, is hospitalised with cancer.

KATHMANDU, April 20 - An ailing senior leftist leader and one of the members of the Constitution Drafting Committee, Nirmal Lama today blamed political corruption as the root of all the problems facing the country.

At a programme organised to felicitate him, Lama said that "Nepal would not have been in such a grave danger had it not been for political corruption". Pointing out to the senior leaders of the country, he said, "I hope that my words and my thoughts are going to be taken seriously by our political leaders."

Lama, who has been suffering from a throat cancer for the past nine months, had arrived at the Rastriya Sabha Griha (City Hall), in a stretcher and was welcomed by a huge crowd of his admirers and followers. He is receiving treatment at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital.

Former Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, was all praise for Lama at the function. He said that Lama had played a major role in the movement for democracy. "He is not only a Communist leader but a leader of the entire nation," he said.

Another member of the Constitution Drafting Committee which drafted the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal 1990, Bharat Mohan Adhikari, said Lama had been instrumental in the Communist movement as well as movement for Democracy. "Lama is a true follower of the Marxist-Leninist idealogy," he said.

Former House Speaker and member of the Committee Daman Nath Dhungana, described Lama as a warrior for people’s rights. On the occasion, Lama was felicitated by senior leaders, and a number of organisations.

RNAC aiming to benefit local trading house, by hook or by crook

By Suman Pradhan

KATHMANDU, April 20 - RNAC, the carrier that rarely flies without a controversy, is kicking up another eye-popping scandal. And all because bigwigs, both inside and out, want to "assist" a certain trading house here bag a lucrative multi-million dollar aircraft leasing deal.

At stake is about 25 million dollars worth of a jet-leasing agreement, and a minimum of five percent of that amount in commissions.

The story goes like this: Early this year, the airline issued a global tender calling for bids to supply a wide-body Boeing B-767-300-ER jet on lease for two years.

The tender was cancelled in the closing days of February because RNAC said it did not receive "meritable" bids. A re-tender was called for in March, which was also cancelled.

In mid-March, RNAC bosses called a fresh tender. The stipulated time for this tender closed on April 15, a Saturday. So RNAC extended the time till the next working day which was last Monday.

Now starts the real interesting part. Under regular norms, sealed bids are opened soon after the deadline is passed, but that didn’t happen on Monday. The next day, at about late office hours, RNAC suddenly decided to open the bids.

They called a few representatives of the bidders to RNAC headquarters, as is the custom, and proceeded to tear the sealed envelopes.

Of the five bids that came in this last tender, four were accepted for evaluation. They were from Babcock & Brown (Ireland), Nepal Trade Concern (Kathmandu), Transaction Pacific Enterprises (Kathmandu) and A & H Aviation (London).

One, that of Ansett Worldwide, an affiliate of Ansett Airlines (Australia), was rejected outright. The reason: the seal on its envelope which contained the bid was "found to be broken", according to a source. The charge was made by RNAC officials and representatives of other bidders who were present there.

RNAC bosses then smoothly proceeded with opening the other four bids. The Ansett bid was put aside in a cloth bag, and the bag sealed. It would have been forgotten had it not been for the "amateurish" bids RNAC found in the other remaining bids.

What happened from this point is a little murky. Sources deep inside RNAC who were present that day say, two bids had some or the other documentary shortcomings in them. So they did not have any chance of bagging the leasing deal. The one from Transaction Pacific had some merit, but its price was quoted so high that it would not have any chance either.

Only one, that of Babcock & Brown, was suitable. This particular bid proposes a nine-year old B-767-300-ER for US 3576 dollars a flight hour on AMI leasing terms. That means, the supplier will furnish the aircraft and its maintenance and insurance packages while RNAC will provide the crew. This is a concession to RNAC’s sometimes-striking pilots.

This bid is being pushed by a large trading house in Kathmandu which also has interests in a Bangladeshi joint-venture bank, in Fuji photo colour lab, and recently, in an information technology company.

Highly reliable, but confidential, sources inside the airline say, RNAC and its political bosses are pushing hard in favour of this bid. Not only the present management and government is in favour of this particular trading house, but even the previous management favoured this company. How?

When RNAC first put out the tender early this year, it called for suppliers to furnish an aircraft which was under five years old. Since this company has been bidding ever since with an aircraft that is nine years old, the earlier management cancelled the tender and the re-tender and issued a fresh tender. The retender in March raised the bar to "aircraft under 10 years old", neatly paving the way for the nine-year old aircraft.

Just then the government fell and a new set up came to power. The previous management was booted out on some sundry charges, but the real purpose was to install "our own man" inside RNAC when the airline is making some interesting noises about leasing long-term and even buying new aircraft.

The new government promptly brought in a man who was marked for departmental action by the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) for irregularities while he headed the Civil Aviation Authority.

To complete the grip on RNAC, the new government also curiously nominated to the RNAC board two new members who, incidentally, had played a big role in the Dhamija scam of the early 1990s. These same members were also at the airline’s helm when it sold its two old workhorses - the B-727s - for scrap, which originally precipitated the aircraft shortage that continues to this day.

Now to the present. After the Ansett bid was cast aside last Tuesday, RNAC bosses suddenly found that for them to be able to make a meaningful evaluation of bids (and grant an award), they needed the necessary "quorum" of three bids which is clearly specified under government financial regulations. But they only had two - the Babcock & Brown bid and another from Transaction Pacific Enterprises.

So the next day, that is on Wednesday, RNAC bosses were hell bent on opening the Ansett bid as well, but they needed to do it in a way that didn’t attract attention. They found a way out by sending the Ansett envelope to the National Forensic Science Laboratory at Khumaltar for forensic tests.

The clear instruction to the scientist there was to determine whether the seal on the envelope was broken. He was also told to keep the matter quiet.

Dr Sewak Ram Bhandary, executive director of the laboratory, himself examined the specimen Thursday morning. Sources close to him say, he submitted a report stating the seal on the envelope "is intact."

But forensic laboratory sources told The Kathmandu Post Thursday that "the possibility of the sealed bid being tampered with cannot be ruled out." They pointed out that while the seal is intact, the method used to seal the envelope is unheard of.

"Under such circumstances, what I fail to understand is why RNAC accepted such a sealed envelope in the first place," says this scientist.

The report was rushed to RNAC Thursday afternoon, and the bosses went into a serious meeting. The agenda of the meeting was whether or not to open the Ansett bid.

The whole matter is akin to a Catch-22 situation for RNAC bosses and Babcock & Brown’s Nepali agents: To open the Ansett bid or not to open. If they open, they can say the quorum has been reached and promptly grant the deal to Babcock. But the downside is, questions will be raised as to why four bids were opened on Tuesday and one on Thursday? The CIAA will have ample ammunition in its hands to pursue the case.

If they don’t open the Ansett bid, they don’t have the required quorum as specified by government regulations, another potential CIAA case.

Meanwhile, Ansett appears in no mood to rescue RNAC bosses. Ansett’s vice president for marketing, Harry Forsythe, faxed off an angry letter to RNAC today, demanding that its bid be withdrawn and the envelope be handed over to Ansett.

Ansett, say sources, is aiming at cancellation of the latest tender process so that it has a fresh chance next time.

Kumaripati locals block road

By a Post Reporter

LALITPUR, April 20 - Residents of Kumaripati barricaded the road and stalled the traffic today after they pitched a tent in the middle of the road as a protest against government’s apathy towards the condition of the road.

Residents of the area claim that this drastic measure had to be taken since their continuous appeals to the concerned bodies fell on deaf ears. The road was blocked from 8:30 in the morning to 6:00 in the evening.

Kumaripati road, which borders ward no 5 and 19, has been in a deplorable condition in the past few years. Rain water collects on the road during monsoon making a pool in the middle of the road. Road accidents are also frequent in this part of the road.

Residents claim that the condition of the road has been a vote bank for the politicians. "Their commitments never get fulfilled once they got elected," they say.

Their fury has also been directed towards Mayor of the Lalitpur Municipality, Buddhi Raj Bajracharya. On Friday, April 14, Bajracharya had told The Kathmandu Post that the drainage pipes would be laid out the very day but the construction had not started till Thursday. "Had the works started, why would we want to stay here?" said Bikash Maharjan, member of ward no 5.

According to Maharjan, the City Council has allotted budget for three consecutive years. "The first year it was Rs. 3.8 million, Rs. 2 million the second year but not a paisa has been spent on the road," said he.

Locals had collected donations worth Rs. 150 thousand under the coordination of Deputy Mayor Ramesh Chitrakar and had laid huge pipes on the road. After the funds exhausted, the work also stopped, said Maharjan.

The locals have formed an agitation committee to tackle the problem. "In the monsoons, vehicles including ambulances getting stuck in the middle of the road, is a common scene," said Gopal Man Shrestha, chairperson of the action committee. "These demonstrations are just symbolic - an attempt to warn the concerned bodies - if they do not pay attention, we will have to take more stringent measures," said he.

A similar demonstration had been put up last Friday at the peak hour - from 9:00 am to 11:00 am. The next step in their agitation is a gherao of the Municipality on April 24th, when the city Council, which was stalled on April 10th, will restart.

TCN stir called off

KATHMANDU, April 20 (PR)- Striking employees of Timber Corporation of Nepal (TCN) have called off their stir for the next 15 days after a minister assured that the government would implement measures to solve problems faced by the corporation.

Minister of State for Forest and Soil Conservation Mohammad Aftab Allam assured them the government would implement recommendations made in the past by commissions formed to review and resolve problems faced during operation by the corporation. "It is only after the State Minister told us that he would study the report and that he formulate long term solutions for the workers that we have stopped our protests, TCN Employee Association General secretary Tej Bahadur Karki said.

He further warned that if the five point agreement, that was agreed last Tuesday, were not implemented within 15 days then they would start their protests again. The worker have been protesting for the implementation of the five point demand for the last one and a half months.

Technicians resign en masse

SHYANGJA, April 20 (PR)- Fifty-three technicians working in Kali Gandaki A hydro-electric project today tendered their resignation after the management demanded resignation from an employee alleging him of revealing the company secrets.

Gopal Prasad Mahat, an engineer at the construction company Impregilo-SPA was accused of disclosing the protected documents from computer files. The group of 53 overseers and engineers submitted their resignation after the management sought resignation from Mahat.

The company has asked them to leave the quarters after accepting their resignation. The resigning officials have refused to leave the quarters unless they are provided with the other compensations like health expenditure, and provident fund.

Four reported dead in separate incidents

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, April 20 - Four people, among them a mother and a baby, were murdered in different parts of the country late yesterday even as a young boy fell prey to thunderbolt in the western hills, reports reaching here said.

Shiva Maya Kharel alias Shuvadra, 56, was found strangled to death in her house in Chabahil, Binayak Tol in the capital city Wednesday evening.

The police have not arrested any one as of now. But say they would go ahead with the investigation after they receive the post mortem report. Her neck was full of bruises and head swollen, witnesses said.

Originally hailing from Kavre Bhumlatar VDC, Kharel was living with her three sons at her own resident. Her son Shiva Raj said, she was ill and was bedridden for the last two weeks. The news has shocked everybody who knew her, said one of her neighbours, Rama.

Likewise, a middle aged man was stabbed to death in far-east’s Damak last evening. Ram Bahadur Sharma 52 died on his way to Damak hospital last evening after a group of unidentified people stabbed him with knife. Witnesses said police arrived at the scene much later. Those involved in the attack are at large.

As the body of Sharma lied flat at the police station premises hundreds of Damak locals today gheraoed the station protesting the delay. Police blank-fired six rounds bullets to disperse the crowd.

The far-eastern Terai hub remained tense all day today until an all-party meeting held later today decided to investigate into the murder and punish those involved in blank firing.

In Morang district, a husband torched his house after strangling his wife and baby to death under the influence of alcohol. Police said Mallu Chaudhary, 34, last night strangled his wife Manita Chaudhary, 25, and their 14-month-old son, Arjun, to death before torching his house in Darbesha VDC-9. Chaudhary has confessed he committed the crime under the influence of alcohol.

In Arghakhanchi district in the western hills, Lalu Chundali, 19, of Argha VDC-6 died after a thunderbolt struck him. Member of a wedding procession, Chundali was taking shelter in a house on his return from the wedding ceremony.

Rescued girls shunned by families

By a Post Reporter

CHITWAN, April 20 - Families have refused to take back two girls rescued by Maiti Nepal from the Bombay Red Light district, said the NGO, here, today.

Coordinator of the Maiti Nepal branch in Chitwan, Yuwaraj Dawari told The Kathmandu Post that the families of Parvati Poudel, resident of Birendra Campus Ward No. 10 of Bharatpur and Pamfa Adhikari, of Madhavpur Ward No. 8 of Pituwa VDC refused to accept them because of social stigma and pressure.

Within a year of starting operations in Chitwan, Maiti Nepal have rescued 16 girls and handed them back to their families. The girls have come from such disparate places as Bharatpur, Ratnanagar, Gardi, Mangalpur, Chainpur, Jagatpur and Pokhara.

Last July, according to Dawari, a returned girl, Laxami Chaudhary of Gardi VDC Ward No. 8 died of AIDS.

According to concerned authorites, girl trafficking in Chitwan district has increased in the last three years. From a recorded three trafficked in ‘97-’98, the figure has jumped to nine in ‘98-’99.