Govt warns Eurorient over missed deadlines

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KATHMANDU, Nov 23 - The government may not give the go-ahead to Eurorient Investment Group, an American company wishing to develop the Arun III hydel project, if it continues to buy time to submit necessary documents required to obtain a survey licence, an official warned here today.

"If they (Eurorient) continue appealing for the extension of the deadline to submit a `performance assurance’ like this, the government will definitely think twice," Angira Acharya, Senior Divisional Engineer at Department of Electricity Development told The Kathmandu Post.

Today was the final day of the second 15-day deadline given to the Los Angeles-based power development company to submit the ‘performance assurance’ - a document from an internationally recognized insurance company which assures that the company in question has deposited the requested amount.

Eurorient Group was required to submit a performance assurance of Rs 42 million - at the rate of Rs 100 per Kilo Watt - to obtain the licence of the 402 Mega Watt Arun III, according to Electricity Regulation.

However, Binay Amatya, Eurorient’s agent for Nepal, today went on to submit one more application - the third such - to the Department, appealing that the deadline for submitting the performance assurance be extended for another fortnight.

"We could not get all the things done on time because there exists no such insurance company in Nepal, and also because it was too short a time-frame to get the performance assurance submitted from a European insurance company," Amatya told The Kathmandu Post over the telephone late Thursday.

He, however, added that a United Kingdom (UK)-based European Insurance Company has promised to submit the document by the end of December.

Eurorient, which was chosen by the government in late June from amongst three similar interested companies, applied for the survey licence to develop Arun III three months back.

Detailed design works and feasibility studies of the run-of-river hydel project, which will be one of Nepal’s biggest once completed, had been finished in 1993.

So much so that the project’s tender processes were already underway. But the then government was forced to abort it after the World Bank, which had supported it for 10 years, pulled out in 1995.

At that time, the project’s cost had been estimated at US $1 billion. The price, however, has not yet been reviewed.

Eurorient Group was said to be joining forces with two other multinational companies - ABB and Privam company, "USA’s pioneer" power developers. The companies have already developed bigger hydel projects in the US, Europe, China and India.

Officials had said in July that the government was also planning to allow the same company to develop 335 MW Upper Arun and 308 MW Lower Arun if Eurorient works satisfactorily on the Arun III project.

RNAC unions issue memo against Lauda Air deal

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KATHMANDU, Nov 23 - The three unions at the Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation (RNAC) on Thursday issued a joint memorandum to the representatives of Lauda Air SpA to stop all proceedings of the lease deal for its widebody B-767 jet with the Corporation and cancel the deal "for our mutual interests".

The memorandum made by RNAC Employee Sangh, Nepal Airlines Pilots’ Association and RNAC Employees Union, states that the deal "is totally in the interests of a handful of persons but not in favour of the national flag- carrier".

The unions termed the lease deal totally against the interest of RNAC. The memorandum addressed to the Lauda team, presently staying in a five-star hotel in the capital, points out that the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) had ordered the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) and RNAC to stop all dealings in respect of the lease deal. Likewise, the unions have also referred to the Supreme Court Show Cause notice to RNAC on the issue. They also added that the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority was seriously looking into the whole issue.

A three-member PAC sub-committee is slated to give its ruling on the lease deal on Friday. MoCTCA, on Tuesday, had instructed RNAC management to abide by the PAC ruling that had asked for freezing of all activities on the deal till its further orders.

KMC launches Household Waste Collection Programme

By Razen Manandhar

KATHMANDU, Nov 23 - Kathmandu Metropolitan city (KMC) decided today to charge fee for its service of collecting garbage from approximately 130,000 houses and other commercial firms, in a bid to gather local participation in solving garbage disposal problem.

In a public notice issued Thursday, KMC Executive Officer Hari Prasad Rimal stated that those who overlook the decision would be subjected to pay a fine of up to Rs 15,000.

He said that this decision to operate the Household Waste Collection Programme was only an attempt to seek people’s cooperation in managing the pile of garbage in the metropolis. "Charging for the garbage would at least compel city-dwellers to reduce the amount of garbage and would also encourage them to reuse the waste as much as possible," he added.

"It will take time for the people to adjust to the habit but we will not let anybody litter the streets as before. Collecting the local’s names will continue for one or two weeks. The locals will pay after one month’s service," said Shanta Ram Pokharel, the chief of KMC’s Environment Department.

In the first phase, seven roads in the capital have been chosen for the project. The residents of Teku-Kalanki Road, Kalimati-Balku Road, Tripureshoar-Minbhawan-Tilganga Road, Maitighar-Putali Sadak-Kings Way, Singh Darbar-Kings Way, Sinamangal-Bag Bazar Road and Tripureshwor-Thapathali Road will not be allowed to throw garbage in the streets from Thursday onwards.

In these areas, containers will move around about between 6.30 to 9.00 a.m. and the locals must deposit their daily bulk of garbage in the vehicles. For this, they will have to pay from Rs 75 to Rs 20,000 monthly according to the nature of the institutes.

"An average family which produces around 10 litres of garbage daily will pay Rs 75 monthly. Whereas a five-star hotel producing 1500 litres of garbage daily should not dissaprove of paying Rs 20,000 monthly for managing its huge bulk of garbage," said Pokhrel.

However, KMC will not take responsibility for collecting hazardous, chemical, infectious and expired pharmaceutical wastes from hospitals etc unless the wastes is separated categorically.

Pokhrel said, "Although KMC was doing its best to manage the garbage, it apparently has failed in the past because the locals litter the streets when we finish collecting it."

He added,"Some so-called NGOs also create additional problems by collecting garbage from the courtyards and dumping it in the main streets. They collect money for littering the city."

Now such NGOs will have to obtain KMC’s permission to continue wih this practice.

A team of city policemen will accompany the KMC staff while visiting the locals door to door for "subscription" fees.

Deputy superintendent of city police Bishnu Singh Basnet said the a team have been appointed for enforcement of this new project. "We will fine the locals immediately if they are found dumping garbage at wrong time. Our jawans in point-duty and mobiles will inform us of such misconduct."

KMC spends around Rs 170 million annually to manage 350 tonnes of garbage Kathmandu produces daily.

18 forged certificate holders in Gorkhapatra Corporation

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KATHMANDU, Nov 23 - An internal investigation in the Gorkhapatra Corporation has named at least 18 people who are employed with dubious college certificates from Bihar in India.

According to corporation officials publishers of government news dailies Gorkhapatra and The Rising Nepal, the report presented a few days back has named 18 of the employees as presenting certificates from Durbanga in Bihar, India.

"Some of these people have presented these certificates which state that they were in college during the same time period they were employed at the corporation," admitted General Manager of the corporation, Benup Prasai.

For years it has been common practice to cross the border into the Indian state of Bihar and buy fake certificates stating successful completion of college degrees.

The take degrees have been available to students who are willing to pay a small fee and present them for meeting the education requirements sought by the employers without having to complete the years of college education.

Such practice was first revealed a few years ago when hundreds of teachers who had been employed on the basis of such fake certificates were suspended.

The report also stated that there were at least another 20 employees who have not been able to produce their educational certificates when asked to do so by the management.

Prasai said following the presentation of the report, at least eight employees have tendered their resignation but they have not been accepted pending further investigation. Seven of these eight people were named in the report as having fake Indian certificates.

Chairman of the Corporation, Purandhar Ghimire, said the management will not be accepting the resignation and let these people off scot-free until the investigation is completed.

"We should be able to begin our investigation and take action as of next Monday and over the next three months we hope to complete it," Ghimire said.

Who should lead NC in the new century ? 

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KATHMANDU, Nov 23 - When political analysts sit to discuss who should be the next (wo)man to lead the country’s largest political party Nepali Congress(NC), they face a dilemma: they think the present leadership has failed, yet they don’t have much confidence in the challengers.

The dilemma became apparent once again when they gathered at a Face-to-Face program organized by the Reporters’ Club here today. There was a unanimous agreement that the present leadership is bereft of vision to take on the present challenges.

Did the previous generation of leadership (the generation of the late BP Koirala) have that vision? "Yes, they had a clear agenda of freeing the country from the Rana oligarchy. And that was a lofty dream in the context of a 104-year long family rule and a totally feudal society," says Krishna Khanal, a political science professor and former advisor to Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala.

In his evaluation, the generation was both visionary and dynamic. "Once the Rana Oligarchy was overthrown, it quickly adopted socialistic democracy as its political philosophy to transform society."

However, the post-1990 NC leadership, he argues, has failed to understand the complexity of nation-building in the modern-day context. Does that mean Girija Prasad Koirala shouldn’t be elected as the next president in the NC’s upcoming general convention scheduled for February? And it is here that comes a contradictory statement from this Professor, " No he should be elected because he is the one who commands the confidence of majority of the NC cadres."

How important is the issue of the first generation versus second generation? "It is not an issue at all," says Krishna Hatchhethu, a political analyst at the Centre for Nepal and Asian Studies(CNAS). What is important in his opinion is that they justify their candidacy in terms of their vision and program for the future. Unfortunately, the NC continues to remain a personality-dominated party where ideology becomes totally redundant, he adds.

For Minendra Rijal, advisor to Sher Bahadur Deuba, during his tenure as the Prime Minister, "generation matters." An age difference of over twenty-five years brings a totally different perspective to development. Koirala represents a post-World War II generation and inherits a peculiar type of passion for democracy and we should respect it, but that alone is not enough to face the challenges of the twenty-first century, he says.

Rijal thinks it is wrong to compare Koirala and Deuba. There is no comparison at all, with his enormous contribution to the party, "Koirala is a towering personality. " But he has failed to resolve corruption, the Maoist insurgency and other pressing problems of society and that justifies his exit as the president of the ruling party, he says. In his opinion, Koirala’s exit is also important for the smooth transition of the leadership to the second generation.

But the second generation has lost enough time in the last ten years and has failed to display any charisma and vision, argues Professor Khanal.

Does this mean that both the first and second generations of NC leadership have failed ? Yes, all the three persons - Prime Minister Koirala, Sher Bahadur Deuba and Sailaja Acharya - who have announced their candidacy for NC’s next president, have been at the helm of affairs over the last ten years during which the NC performed miserably, says Radheshyam Adhikari, former Chairman of the Nepal Bar Association. "Therefore, they should take collective responsibility for the past failure."

Mundy jumps to Surya Nepal Masters lead

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KATHMANDU, Nov 23 - Uttam Singh Mundy, the champion here in 1997, staked his claims for the title after shooting a bravura round of five-under 67 on the second day of the Rs 12-lakh Surya Nepal Masters, being played at the Gokarna Forest Golf resort, today.

The bearded pro from Calcutta tallied eight-under 136 after 36 holes and led by two strokes over Vijay Kumar, who roared back into contention with a new course record six-under 66. Nepal’s Deepak Acharya, who submitted his second successive card of two-under 70 was third at four-under 140. Mukesh Kumar and Shiv Prakash, the two stalwarts of Indian Tour, were tied fourth at 142.

Overnight leader Babu Ahmed of Bangladesh plornmeted down the leaderboard after a five-over 77 round, while defending champion Rohtas Singh added a level-par 72 to his four-over 76 yesterday. The Surya Nepal Masters, which forms the 11th leg of the Wills Sport Indian Golf Tour, is sponsored by Surya Tobacco Company.

The cut was applied at 21-overs 165 and 51 pros made it to the money-making round. Among use 51 pros a Nepalese pro made the cut (After two days top 50 player qualified next round). Accompanying the pros on the final two days will be 12 amateurs, led by India’s No 1 amateur Rahil Ganajee, who eassyed a remarkable turnaround with a three-under 69 card today after his 84 yesterday.

Mundy, twice winner of the Honda Siel-Nike PGA Championship, the biggest event on the Wills Sport Indian Golf Tour, played as if in a zone. He started with a par on the first hole, but then made a hattrick of birdies from the second onwards. On the fifth and sixth holes, he three-putted for ogies and recovered to two-under with his fourth birdie on the seventh hole. However, a double bogey on the eight, where the ball almost hit the flagstick but rolled back into the bunker from where he came out and made his third three-putt of the day, saw him back at even-par after eight holes.

The 35-year-old golfer, who is sponsored by Sahara Airlines, was on fire thereafter as he litzed the course with birdies on the ninth, 10th, 12th, 13th and 14th holes and then missed another on the 16th by one roll and on the 17th where his four-footer birdie put kissed the lip of the cup but didn’t go in. "I had three three-puts yesterday and three today. It would have been a different story without them. But I actually putted well today. I was hitting the ball great today and played a solid round considering that I had dropped back to level-par after eight holes," he said after the round.

Vijay Kumar, winner of the Wills Sport Golf Tour Order of Merit for last three seasons, made a giant leap towards his second title of the season with a superb round of 66 which included eight birdies and two bogies - on the eight and 17th holes. "I needed 33 putts to complete the round and yet managed a six-under. I reached all the par-5s in two and had eagle chances but failed to convert any. I had planned for a seven-under to come back into contention, but will take a 66 any day," said the 33-year-old golfer from Lucknow.

Deepak Acharya made an unfortunate bogey from 50 yards on the final hole and finished at two-under just when he was looking at four-under card. But the 70 was enough to give him sole possession of the third place. Acharya, twice amateur winner of Surya Nepal, had five birdies and three bogies. "I was happy with my 70 yesterday, but it could have been much better today. I was trying too hard for a birdie on the final hole but ended up with a bogey instead," he later said.

Deepak Thapa Magar, winner of Surya Nepal western and Eastern Open, shot the best round among the Nepali pros. His three-under 69 had just one bogey on the 14th, and four birdies which included a magnificent 25-footer putt on the ninth, his final hole of the day. Magar was one-under 143 after the second day and in tied sixth place.

Scores (after 36 holes): 136-Uttam Singh Mundy (69, 67); 138-Vijay Kumar (72,66); 140-Deepak Acharya (70,70); 142-Shiv Prakash (72,70), Mukesh Kumar (69,73);143-Deepak Thapa Magar (74,69), Pappan (71,72); 144-Babu Ahmed (67,77); 146-Rahul Ganapathy (71,75); 148-Sanjay Kumar (70,78), Ramesh Nagarkoti (76,72), Rohtas Singh (76,72), Monish Bindra (75,73), Ajay Gupta (74,74), Amish Jaitha (74,74), Radhey Shyam Thapa (71,77); 149-Zai Kipgen (71,78), Ali Sher (73,76); Amateurs: 153-Rahil Gangiee (84,69); 156-Mani Rai (79,77); 157-Bijesh Shahi (80,77); 161-CB Bhandari (80,81).