PM blames parties for nation's economic woes

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, April 30 - Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala addressing his party cadres and economists today confessed that the major reason behind lack lustre development in the post-democracy decade was selfishness among the political parties. He said all the political parties, including Nepali Congress of which he is the President, just concentrated on the interest of the party and cadres, and has not cared about the country.

The Prime Minister was addressing a workshop organized today by Central Economic Committee of Nepali Congress on economic achievements of the past, challenges and future strategies. He said the political parties were mainly responsible to bring the country in such a pity conditions. "Until we control political woes, it will be impossible to sweep other sectors," he said.

Admitting that there are litany of serious problems in the country, the Prime Minister said, "I’ve not assumed the chair of the Prime Minister just to find jobs for the party cadres and appoint leaders into the post of Minister." The situation, as he explained was very chaotic, and being Prime Minister in such a condition was like stepping on the crater of a live volcano. "But, I’m determined to take the challenge and improve the situation," he added.

Talking about the economy the Prime Minister said at the time of global village there were not any economic models existing in the world. "The economy should move according to the international trend, otherwise we will be secluded and will fail in our development endeavor," he added.

Addressing the workshop participants, Finance Minister Mahesh Acharya said there have been numerous positive changes in the economy in last ten years, including the significant change in economic policies of the country. However, he admitted, there were still host of economic, social and political problems. So far as economic issues are concerned, they should be addressed by intensifying the reform process.

Though the country needs to achieve high growth rate, Acharya said, the government should be very cautious also for the judicious distribution of the resources amongst the poor of the country. "The country is still under a severe threat of social tensions, which should be addressed very carefully by social programs," he added.

The inaugural session of the day long workshop was also addressed by the coordinator of Economic Committee Vinay Dhoj Chand, Member Secretary of the Committee and former Minister of State for Finance Chin Kazi Shrestha and member of the Committee Dr Purna Kanta Adhikari.

Bhattarai takes to writing book

KATHMANDU, April 30 (PR) - Former prime minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai is working on a book that will be released in a month.

Bhattarai made this announcement at the inauguration of Devina Malla’s painting exhibition here today.

"Let me inform you that my 250-page book will be published within this month," said Bhattarai.

He said he was taking up literature as he failed to "act" in politics. "I cannot cry," said Bhattarai hinting at other party members. "Other shed tears and make others cry. I don’t know whether it is crocodiles tears or real." "Just like the people are not satisfied with the leaders, prime minister’s political acting, similarly I am not satisfied too," he said.

When asked about the details of his book, Bhattarai said it would be too early to divulge details. "It’s not good to tell beforehand. It will come in a month, then you will know," he said.

This will be the first published work of Bhattarai who once worked as a journalist.

Climbers at Camp 1

KATHMANDU, April 30 (PR) - Members of Nepalese Women Millennium Everest Expedition were to spend another night today at Camp I at 6,100 meter, according to Secretariat of Expedition Organizing Board.

Since April 23, the climbers have been taking rest at the Base Camp as they climb up and down the slopes of the mountain during the process of acclimatization. Earlier, they had spent a night each in Camp I and Camp II (6,500m).

Team leader Lakpa Sherpa, Deputy Mingma Yangji Sherpa and team members Dawa Yangji Sherpa and Dolma are heading toward Camp III (7400m). "Weather permitting, the climbers will spend the nights of April 30 in Camp I, May 1 in Camp II and May 2 in Camp III.

After overnight stay in Camp III, they will walk down to Base Camp where they will again spend five or six days before moving up to Camp IV and South Col.

Meanwhile, the fifth member of the team - Ms Kasang Diki Sherpa, who had been recuperating in Pangboche - has arrived at the Base Camp. "All five climbers are in good health and are mentally prepared to make it to the Summit," said Bhumi Lal Lama, General Secretary of the Secretariat of Expedition Organizing Board.

Trans-Himalayan race kicks off

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, April 30 - The 10th Raid Guloises Trans Himalayan race kicked off from Shegar Dzong, 430 km south of the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, early Sunday. Ten of the 69 participating teams from around the world are expected to arrive at Nepal’s Kodari area through the world’s highest road Monday, organizers said.

The remaining teams are expected to arrive on Wednesday.

Participants of the 827-km multi-disciplinary race, which was originally slated to start Saturday, could not start on the scheduled day because of high altitude sicknesses they suffered from. They waited for one more day to fully acclimatize to the highland environment, organizers said. They flew into Lhasa last Tuesday.

The event is featuring over 500 athletes from 15 countries, and is expected to promote Nepal as one of the world’s best adventure tourism destinations.The action packed event will come to an end on May 12 in Janakpur in Nepal’s central Terai after 14 days of trekking, horseriding, mountainbiking, white water rafting, kayaking, canoeing and canyoneering legs.

Besides local media personnel, 120 journalists from around the world will cover the adventure- and fun-filled event, according to the organizers the Trans Himalaya 2000.

Nepal’s state-owned Nepal TV, Euro Sport International Channel, ABC of the US, NHK of Japan, and other international TV channels will beam the megaevent to an international audience each day. The events will be webcast live on the Internet (www. raid-gauloises.com).

Euro Sport International will shoot a three-hour documentary on the adventure program to telecast in different European countries. Raid Gauloises also plans to prepare a separate documentary.

The athletes are currently competing on trekking, horseriding and mountainbiking disciplines along the Lhasa-Kathmandu road which, at a point near Tibet’s Yarle climbs to an altitude of 5159 meters. They will cross the Yarle Shungla La pass to cross the Himalayas.

They will join another herd of athletes at Nepal’s Kodari bordering Tibet’s Zhangmo or Khasa at an elevation of 4,000 meters. The athletes will continue with the horseriding and trekking competitions up to Lamo Sangu or Dolalghat, from where they are scheduled to drench themselves in the white waters of Sunkoshi river in rafting, kayaking, canoeing and canyoneering competitions.

The mountainbiking competitions will start again after the teams raft or canoe down the Sunkoshi river to Saptari district in the Terai. Mountainbiking and hiking competitions will follow then which will finally take them to Janakpur, the finishing point sometime on or after May 12.

Rail Guloises was established in France in 1986. It has been holding such events since 1989. Prior to this Raid Guloises has already held such events in New Zealand, Costarica, New Caledonia, Oman, Madagascar, Malaysia, Argentina, South Africa, Lesotho and Ecuador.

How budget gets frittered away

By Binaj Gurubacharya

KATHMANDU, April 30 - When the Chandhuli Irrigation Project in Kapilakot village of Sindhuli district was first started in 1981, it was estimated to cost about Rs. 1 million.

Nearly 20 years later and over Rs. 6.3m spent already, the project is nowhere near completion. All because every year only about Rs. 200,000 budget is allocated for this irrigation project that is just enough to run the project office.

This irrigation project is just one example of the hundreds of such projects that have been delayed for years due to the inadequate allocation of budget.

And whatever work is done within the fiscal year, monsoon or other factors sweep it away and when new budget does arrive the next year, it is back to working on the basics, complain planners. This way projects would take decades if not a whole century to complete.

The National Planning Commission (NPC) that is responsible for planning out budget allocation say pressure from lawmakers has led to the budget being scattered to more projects than it can handle.

Planners trying to make every one of these lawmaker happy have been compelled to allocate little and sometimes insignificant amount to each of these projects.

For the past few days, majority of the 205 parliamentarians have been flocking NPC in hopes of ensuring as much budget as possible for projects in their home constituencies.

"We are trying to convince the parliamentarians to reduce the number of applications for new projects and to consider completing the projects that are already implemented even if that means completing only a fewer projects," NPC Vice-Chairman Prithviraj Ligal told The Kathmandu Post.

Since last week, NPC has been soliciting suggestions from these representatives of the people. During the first meeting, all the members were invited followed by meetings by development regions and then at district level.

This year nearly 3,500 new applications have been submitted by the parliamentarians seeking funds for new projects. This adds to the hundreds of incomplete and underfunded projects already in hand.

"It is our compulsion that we do whatever we can to get as much or as little money for projects and apply for new projects in our constituencies ... or else we would be facing the fury of our constituents when we return back to our home towns," said one lawmaker who has been frequenting NPC for the past few days.

Planners complain that most of these applicants insist that their project get priority over others and this comes without following the process of first conducting detailed study of these projects, estimating the costs, looking for the funds to finance them and then only going ahead with the projects.

However, the reality is much different than what the planners would like. Political pressure plays a major role in distribution of the budget.

One good example is the Gaighat-Diktel Road that was estimated to cost Rs. 2.1 billion rupees when first implemented six years back. The first year, the government allocated Rs 100 thousand and Rs. 200 thousand the second year for the project. This fiscal year, the amount was increased to Rs. 10 million. "At this rate the project would take as much as 161 years to complete," complains a budget planner.

In most cases, the little money allocated for these projects are mostly spent to cover overhead costs like the project office and its staff and hardly any money is spent for the actual projects.

"Some of these projects have been a stable source of income for some people with strong political backing who have gotten used to receiving the easy money and won’t allow the projects to be completed," says lawmaker Lilamani Pokhrel who has asked the Chandhuli Irrigation Project in his constituency to be scrapped.

Planners say if the government was to just complete the projects that have already begun without taking on new projects, it would take another 10 years budget to do so. Additional projects stains the already strained budget.

The government targets to present the budget for the next fiscal year on May 25 which is nearly a month and half earlier than in previous years. The government hopes that early presentation of budget would translate to earlier implementation of projects.

NSP presses demands

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, April 30 - Nepal Sadbhavana Party today demanded that the government immediately work towards issuing citizenship certificates to over four million people living in the Terai region.

Addressing a press conference here today, the party leaders called on the government to a three-point agreement that the two sides reached a few months back, and warned that it would stage nation wide protests from Sunday if the government fails to work according to the agreement. It has set a deadline of Saturday.

Besides the resolution of the citizenship issue, the party’s other demands, agreed upon by the government during an agreement last November, include, establishment of state governments, and empowerment of women and emancipation of the backward and oppressed Terai communities.

"The government failed to work according to the agreement," said the party’s Chairman Gajendra Narayan Singh. "That’s why we have been forced to take to streets...we’ll stage sit-ins, gherao, and rallies in all the 75 districts if the government does nothing till Saturday."

He said the party also handed over a letter to the Prime Minister Sunday, reminding him the points agreed upon last November.

Tiger found at above 3000m in Bhutan

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, April 30 - A team of researchers led by Nepali expert Dr Prahlad Yonzon has successfully caught a tiger in their cameras at an elevation of 3,000 meters in central Bhutan’s ThrumsingLa National Park. The tiger was photographed on April 11.

"This is the first photographic evidence supporting the presence of a Royal Bengal Tiger at such an high altitude," Dr Yonzon, a wildlife expert at Resources Himalaya in Kathmandu, told The Kathmandu Post today. Furthermore, the team also found evidences of the endangered big cat’s movements above 4,000 meter elevation.

"Tigers’ pugmarks at 4,110 meters suggest that tigers use expansively high altitude pass to move into adjoining valleys," a news release issued today by Dr Yonzon, quoted the team as saying.

Others in the team included Sangay Dorji, Kencho Gyeltshen, Hem Raj Mongar and Dr B Gurung of the ThrumsingLa Park. The 768-sq km mountainous park is located in central Bhutan, and is a home to such exotic wildlife as red pandas, capped langur and 276 species of birds including rufous-necked hornbill.

The surprising presence of tigers in so high an altitude, says Yonzon, could have been made possible by Bhutan’s thick forest cover which stands at 72 percent of her total land area. Protected area system there occupies 26 percent.

Yonzon’s team has been conducting a wildlife survey in the ThrumsingLa Park since September 1999, under the collaborative research scheme of WWF Bhutan and Nature Conservation Section of Bhutan’s Ministry of Agriculture.

A country-wide tiger conservation initiative in Bhutan began in 1995, the release said, adding that the estimated total number of continuously distributed tigers in Bhutan, including adults, sub-adults and cubs, stands at between 150-to-115.

According to Yonzon, Bhutan’s all nine protected areas contain tiger populations which are connected by wildlife corridors. "Of these protected areas, Jigme Dorji National Park merits special attention for having diverse endangered large predators in one park," he said. "Both tigers and snow leopards are found there."

Tigers are considered as flagship species, whose existence will meet habitat requirements of many other species.

Only about 6,000 Royal Bengal Tigers are surviving in the parks and reserves of the Indian subcontinent where they are endemic to, according to WWF. Between 200-250 adult tigers are residing in and around Nepal’s four Terai parks or reserves, Nepali wildlife officials say.

Union leaders flay government

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, April 30 - On the eve of International Labour Day, labour unions today pointed out the government’s inefficiency saying that it has been unable to implement labour acts effectively.

At an interaction programme on "Workers’ Rights: Human Rights" organised by the Amnesty International, Nepal, the labour union leaders alleged the Ministry of Labour of having a feeble labour administration and failing to settle problems faced by labourers.

"The government has failed to implement the labour laws that it formulated," said Bishnu Rimal, general secretary of General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT).

According to Rimal, there are 3.5 million daily wage labourers in Nepal out of which two million are agriculture labourers. Nepal has ratified three conventions out of the seven international conventions on labour. The four other conventions -- 29 Forced Labour Convention, 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Rights to organise Convention, 105 Abolition of Forced Labour Convention and 182 Convention to Eliminate Worst Forms of Child Labour, are yet to be ratified.

"The global flow of money has turned the labour force into commodity," said Rimal. "Nepalese do not get jobs here which is going in the hands of foreign nationals. And when they go abroad they are the ones who suffer the most." Laxman Basnet, chairperson of Nepal Trade Union Congress (NTUC) said that creating employment opportunity is the only way to protect human rights.

President of AI-Nepal, Krishna Kandel said that the government should implement the four conventions and "implement them effectively."

The interaction programme was organise by the AI to protest against atrocities in Saudi Arabia especially against the migrant labourers. The AI is observing this May Day by launching a global campaign against the atrocities against labourers in Saudi Arabia.

According to Anil Pant from AI, Nepal, during the nine years from 1990 to 1999, 767 migrant workers were given death sentence in Saudi Arabia out of which majority were Asians.

"Sixty percent of the labourers in Saudi Arabia are migrant workers and majority of them Asians. The Asians are basically given household and manual works," said Pant.

Meanwhile, leader of the main opposition Madhav Kumar Nepal in a press release issued here today said that labourers worldwide are not getting due reward despite their inestimable contributions.

Nepal has urged the labourers in the country to make concerted efforts to realise their rights.

NEA raps KG-A move

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, April 30 - Nepal Engineers Association (NEA) today condemned the move taken by the Italian construction company Impregilo-SPA of accepting the resignations of technicians at the Kali Gandaki A hydel project "without investigation".

A press release issued by the Association, states that the sacking would be a major setback for the completion of the project in time.

Altogether 57 technical staff of the country’s biggest hydel project, which will feed 144 MW of electricity into the national grid upon completion, resigned en masse on April 17 condemning the sacking of one Gopal Prasad Mahato who was alleged to have leaked company secrets.

They also complained of the unfair working environment and the allegations of abusive treatment by the contractor company’s employees.