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Kathmandu Sunday November 12, 2000 Kartik 27, 2057.
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Hotel row deadlock ends temporarily
By Gopal Tiwari
KATHMANDU, Nov 11 - The deadlock between hoteliers and
hotel employees regarding the imposition of an additional 10 per cent service charge
on all hotel services has ended today after both the parties agreed to seek an amicable
solution within a month.
The decision was taken at an emergency meeting held between
the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce-Employers Council, the employees and the
government officials. However, Hotel Association Nepal (HAN) has yet to make its stand
clear on issue.
Ajay Sthapit, Secretary General of HAN asserted that the
time limit is too short, and it should be extended for at least one year instead of one
month, to study in detail about the problems of tourism industry including extra service
charge being raised by the hotel employees.
A source close to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO)
disclosed today that the government is to make its formal statement seeking at least 3
months to study the issue in detail.
It is said that the commission, will study at length on the
additional service charge and other labour related policies, it is learnt.
The meeting held today was attended by Shanker Koirala,
joint secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA), Tarini
Dutta Chataut, Minister for MoCTCA, Rajendra Khetan, Chairman at Employers’
Council-Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), Director General
of Labour Department Deep Basnet, Member Secretary of Joint Central Action Committee
Bishnu Lamsal and other trade union leaders Achyut Raj Pandey, Basu Joshi and Madhav
Neupane. However, there was no one representing from Hotel Association Nepal (HAN) in the
meeting, it is learnt.
Issuing a press statement today, Central Joint Action
Committee of Hotel Employees has also stated that they have postponed the strike for a
month. Meanwhile, they have also asserted that if the government and the employers do not
come up with a solution in time agreed upon, strike would resume after one month.
Hotel employees had threatened to go on nationwide strikes
from November 19 if the employers could not solve their problem.
According to a source close to PMO, a meeting held between
Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and Shanker Koirala Joint Secretary at the Ministry
of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation along with Kumar Poudel, Acting Secretary at the
MoCTCA has decided to form a committee and seek amiable solution within a short period of
time.
One of the members of an emergency meeting, Rajendra
Khetan, Chairman at Employers Council-FNCCI said that the HAN and employees should hold
dialogue to solve the problems. They are in the same wave length to have a tripartite
committe to resolve and, both will understand today’s crisis and importance to
tourism as a whole.
HAN’s Sthapit is concerned with the crisis created by
the hotel employees. He added that tourism industry alone contributes 4 percent to Gross
Domestic Product. He said the industry alone employs more than 1 million people across the
country, directly or indirectly. Tourism sector earns more than 168 millino US dollar per
year.
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