Reform prison administration

News reports of various ailing prisons across the country have once again triggered off tales of
woes and the stories of indifferent authorities. According to reports, thousands of prisoners are living in pathetic conditions. Crammed into tiny rooms of dilapidated buildings without proper food, clothes and sanitation facilities, prisoners are living in squalor. The case is the same in every prison--be it in the capital or in Maoist-hit Rukum. Despite pleas from social activists, the sorry state of prison conditions continues to go unaddressed. In some extreme cases, prisoners are made to do without water and bath for several months. In Musikot, the prisoners use buckets as makeshift toilets inside the prison cells. The stench and the consequent illness that ensue can very well be imagined. These deprivations have given rise to health hazards inside the prison house. In Morang jail, contagious diseases such as influenza, cold and tuberculosis have reached alarming proportions. Still, the jail administration has kept quiet about the need to provide medication to sickly prisoners. In the absence of segregation measures, even healthy prisoners are fast getting infected.

Deprivation of basic necessities is, in fact, a gross violation of fundamental human rights. No doubt, culprits must be punished according to the severity of their crimes. This, however, does not mean that they deserve inhumane treatment. They are a part of society too, and cannot be neglected. It is the duty of society to give them a chance to reform themselves and extreme retributive measures are definitely not enough. Punishment meted out to culprits must be reformative not retributive. Solitary confinement is itself a severe punishment, but without a reformative approach, prisons cannot provide social justice. Our prisons houses are such that even first time offenders can come out a hardened criminal once they step out of prison. This must not be because it defeats the very purpose of having a prison in the first place.

In order to make prisoners self-reliant and responsible citizens, well-sketched programmes should be introduced for prison houses. Literacy classes along with library facilities, recreational activities and vocational training, among others, would engage the prisoners productively and help them reform effectively. Obviously, this calls for a huge amount of money which the fund-starved and overburdened prison administration cannot supply. It is, therefore, imperative that the government, social activists and non-governmental organisations shore up their campaign to fight for the cause of prisoners. Instead of passing the buck from one corner to the other, social welfare council should encourage concerted efforts from various quarters. Foreign assistance, it is to be hoped, could came as a precious relief. If the resources are well utilized through effective channels, prisoners could surely see light at the end of the tunnel.

On Butwal Power Company privatization

By S B Pun

The Privatization Cell at the Ministry of Finance HMG/N brought down the curtain for the second time on the Privatization of Butwal Power Company (BPC) on the 1st of November 2000. The objective of selling 75 percent of HMG’s share at BPC is to promote "private participation in developing the country’s vast hydropower resources to supply electricity to Nepal and export markets." It should be noted that the evaluation of the technical part of the bid will be based on: (i) the strategic investor/Purchaser’s general capability and credibility; (ii) its proven capacity to access capital markets and experience in raising finance for power projects; (iii) experience and proven capacity in hydropower sector similar to BPC as well as (iv) the quality and credibility of Business Plan for BPC. Very tough and comprehensive conditionalities indeed, all tilted in favour of the large foreign marauding players with no room for small local Nepalese bidders. But the same notice for the sale of BPC shares says, "Priority will be given to Nepalese bidders or to bidders with Nepalese involvement where evaluated bids are equivalent." This means that ONLY if the bids get TIED then only will preference for Nepalese bidders come for consideration. This is at a time when even multilateral donors give their consent to the award of contracts that are 7.5 percent higher if the manufacturers are local. It would have been fair if the same yardstick was applied by Privatization Cell mandarins in the case of BPC as well. One thus gets the impression that these mandarins are obsessed more with the foreign imported goose than the local indigenous goose!

The talk of the "local indigenous goose" in this age of globalization and liberalization may be construed by many as being downright anti-privatization and die hard "swadeshi jingoists" like the RSS in India. There is no question that infrastructure, like the power sector in Nepal desperately needs private investments. It is in this spirit that the likes of 60 MW Khimti, 36 MW Bhote Koshi and 7.5 MW Indrawati must be very much welcomed and encouraged i.e. foreign investment for brand new hydropower projects. BPC’s main flagships are its two hydel plants (the 12 MW Jhimruk and the 5 MW Andhi Khola) and the strong engineering consultancy services arm, Hydroconsult. Besides selling bulk power to Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), it also carries out minor distribution services in Syangja and Pyuthan. The 2055/056 annual report indicates that the two plants generated 75 GWH (Jhimruk 52 and Andhi Khola 23) netting in a valuable sales revenue of Rs. 17.9 crores and from consultancy services another Rs. 13.3 crores totalling Rs. 31.2 crores. It was reported that the previous failed bids for the sale of 75 percent of BPC shares had quoted figures in the region of Rs 68 crores. The critical question that privatization mandarins should be asking themselves is what ultimately is the objective of selling BPC. The Privatization Cell’s notice itself states, "promoting private participation in the development of the country’s vast hydropower resources."

If that is exactly our objective then one needs to proceed to the next question on where the "local indigenous goose" fits. The previous bid appeared to be tailored for the foreign strategic partner to play the dominant role with the locals in a subdued secondary role. Wouldn’t the Privatization Cell mandarins want locals to take the dominant role in the privatization of an already functioning and profit making institution like BPC? We have in place reliable performing private Houses like the Soaltee, Jyoti, Chaudhary, Pancha Kanya, etc. looking around for exactly such opportunities. All that is required is the vision of the privatization mandarins to create "congenial atmosphere" for the local geese. The excuses floating around the market is that these local Houses do not have the financial clout to buy the floated 75 percent shares. The privatization mandarins should be asking themselves whether their main objective is to wring out the maximum BPC share value or make the environment congenial for the local geese so that they can also promote hydropower development in future. But apparently with the mandarins wringing NEA’s neck to agree to the "Take or Pay" power purchase agreements (PPAs) for Jhimruk and Andhi Khola recently, it appears that loaded share value is the sole objective of the mandarins. There was no need to hurry with the immediate offloading of BPC’s 75 percent shares. A far more humble figure like 30 percent that our local geese could chew and swallow should have been offloaded. But the government must be fully committed to the policy that the private sector, despite its minority shares, runs the BPC management show.

The Birgunj Electric Company and Nepalgunj’s Jaibageshwari Electric Company were allowed to die because of the then government’s hands-off-from-the-private-sector policy. The other old local geese like Morang Hydro and the Dharan Electric Company were all slaughtered by the government so that the super large "genetically modified" goose, the NEA, could lay the golden eggs. BPC, though much of its generation and distribution activities were roughly feathered out, was the only private institution to have been spared the butcher’s knife. With the golden eggs yet to be laid by NEA in the fifteen years of its roosting, it is now ironically NEA’s turn to be roughly feathered - unbundling/ restructuring/ downsizing! The small under 5 MW local geese in the forms of Daram, Piluwa and Chaku are all, despite the PPAs from NEA, still struggling with financial closures. These are, in comparison to Khimti’s Statkraft from Norway and Bhote Koshi’s Panda Energy from USA, small young ducklings needing the tender guiding hands of its mother.

The privatization of the power sector needs the government’s tender loving care. Particularly the local indigenous geese need the all important "intensive care". Handing over BPC, a small but performing institution, to a local goose and rearing it up to compete with the likes of Stratkraft and Panda is in the best interest of our country. Unfortunately, this is NOT the message emanating from the Ministry of Finance’s privatization mandarins.

Rejection, rage and revenge

By Hitesh Karki

The best thing about having a day off from your work is not hanging around with friends or cleaning up your untidy room but to sleep. Yes, I don’t know about others but with me this is the case until sleep itself gets tired of me and forces me out of my bed. But then as soon as I take a heavy meal (what else but dal, bhat and masu) I’m forced back to bed again. In the whole wide world, I guess there is no substitute for sleeping tablets except our very own staple diet bhat.

This Saturday too, I did the same. Woke up, had my bhat and then went back to bed again. In background, one of the FM stations was broadcasting its programme.

"Dai, tea", this broke my sleep. I lazily looked at the wall clock. The hour hand had already crossed 4. As I was having my tea, my ears, invariably, caught attention of the programme that was coming from the radio.

The RJ was asking a little girl what her ambition was. Not so unsurprisingly she answered that she wished to become a doctor and serve the nation. Her answer made me feel nostalgic, took me way back to my school days where I had the same dreams, same hopes. "My nation; my responsibility", the poem that I had written while I was in class five, was adjudged the best poem. I distinctly remember the head teacher praising my poem during the school assembly.

Days, months and for that matter almost a decade passed by.

Finally, I got my degree. But then the realization dawned up on me that dreams remain dreams. With a file in my hand, what else but loaded with certificates, the hunt began for a job. It was not just me but a group of friends who had graduated at the same time. Going through the pages of national dailies became a daily routine. Whenever one would see a job vacancy, all of us would immediately drop or post our resume. The saddest part of it all was that each and every advertisement would read "Telephone calls are not entertained... short listed candidates will be notified personally". Not one or two, but we had applied to at least dozen different companies but the so called reply never came. We waited and waited till our patience ran out. Somewhere deep down inside the feeling of being rejected started to take its toll on us.

This in turn led to a slowly rising rage within us. Luckily, a last ditch effort finally gave me a breakthrough but then, as for the rest of the gang, the anger continued to rise. No more would they apply for any post, they decided.

The saddest part of it all is that while some have already spent almost two years doing nothing but applying for a US visa. Some became what you would not believe - graduates turned drug- addicts. The revenge of not getting a job was the revenge they were taking on themselves and their family. I am dead sure during their school days they too had had the same hopes and dreams just like the caller on the phone.

Jet boat : A new mode of transportation

By Chuck Gardner

Roads in Nepal are very expensive to construct and maintain due to Nepal’s geographical location and the monsoon season. Landslides and washouts are common causing roads to be blocked for days and in some areas for as long as the monsoon lasts. Rivers flow year around and have for hundreds of thousands of years and they will continue to flow until the end of time. Unless they are altered or blocked, which is normally done by man, they keep the same characteristics from year to year. Sand and gravel bars will change in size and shape from year to year but the main river channel is always there for navigation. Every river in Nepal is safely navigable year around during high monsoon water and low water by jet boat if feasibility studies are done in designated areas. River transport is a comfortable and safe means of transportation in high and low water within these designated areas.

Fourteen years ago, a company entered Nepal from the United States. This company came here to explore the rivers for possible transportation using the jet boat technology. The project was a joint effort between the US Company, US Aid, and His Majesty’s Government of Nepal with the UNDP and the World Bank later joining in. The object was to test the total limits of navigation on all rivers using the jet boat under the rather extreme water and river conditions here in Nepal. Two boats came to Nepal and were tested far beyond anything that could be considered safe navigation. But, after four years in the rivers, it was found out that most rivers had portions of them that could be navigated safely, under all water conditions on a daily basis with a jet boat.

One of the first questions that come up is, what is a jet boat? A jet boat is a specially designed watercraft constructed of marine grade aluminium and braced very heavily. This keeps the boat lightweight yet strong and the design enables it to navigate in rivers with fast turbulent water where a conventional boat cannot operate. The drive system consists of a high performance diesel engine and the movement is done with a jet pump. A jet pump works on the same principle as a jet engine except water is used instead of air and it is driven by diesel engine. Water is taken into the pump and forced out at a high rate of speed for movement and steering of the boat. This drive system enables the boat to run in a minimum amount of water and over objects just under the surface of the water because there is nothing under the bottom of the boat to be damaged.

The second question that comes up is the environmental impact. Jet boat technology has been used in various countries all over the world for over forty years. They are used for the transport of cargo, people and entertainment both commercial and private. In many cases they travel into remote roadless areas under very strict rules and regulations. There are several safety features of a jet boat that eliminates the hazards of water pollution. The hull of the boat is built out of marine grade aluminium, they are welded and sealed, and all fittings and bolts are of stainless steel that eliminates rust and corrosion. Oil, fuel, or chemicals that are spilled or leak within the boat are contained within the hull of the boat until removed manually. No liquid can enter or exit the inside of the boat unless done so manually. There are no moving objects, such as propellers, in the water or under the boat to hurt or damage anything.

In the state of Idaho, USA, there are areas the government has designated as ‘wilderness’ where the rivers are wild and scenic. Within these areas there are no roads and they do not allow any motorized equipment of any kind except jet boats. This area is inhabited by water foul, birds, fish, marine and wildlife, some of which are endangered and threatened species. All of these live and flourish with the jet boat traffic along the river. During the peak jet boat season there may be as many as thirty boats per day navigating within these wilderness areas without disturbing marine or land wildlife. River transport, if it is done in a positive and constructive way, will have no damaging environmental impact on rivers, fish, marine or land wildlife.

No one can really say at this time whether jet boat transport will work or not but jet boats have already been tested in Nepal, they can navigate within set perimeters. With proper training it will be a safe means of transport, and there is a group of people who are willing to take the chance and spend money to setup jet boat river transport in Nepal. Not all rivers are optimum choice for river transport but it is an area that will be the easiest to prove that river transport is possible here. It may be a roadless area but there are many people who live along the river or close to it. If it does work and is economically feasible, there are other portions of other rivers in Nepal that are navigable by jet boat. Maybe river transport by jet boat is not the total answer but if it benefits people that have no means of other transport, it will be worth it. Who knows what the future has in store for river transport in Nepal, only time will tell?