Sharp decline in tourist arrivals
Last year’s hijacking to blame, say experts

By Gopal Tiwari

KATHMANDU, Oct 15 – The tourism industry, one of the major foreign currency spinners of the country, has been severely hit this year as tourist arrivals by air fell more than 12 percent, newly released statistics show.

According to figures supplied by the immigration office at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) and the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), arrivals by air fell 12.79 percent in the nine month period ending September compared to the same period last year. Indian tourist arrival in the same period plummeted by 32 percent.

Tourists arriving by air comprise 86 percent of all tourists visiting Nepal, and the effects of the decline, therefore, is likely to be felt acutely in the hotel, restaurant, adventure, trekking and other ancillary businesses that together make up Nepal’s tourism industry.

Since the industry is a major forex earner for Nepal - generating US dollars 168.1 million in 1999 and US dollars 152.5 million in 1998 – the nation’s forex earnings this year could be hit severely. The industry alone contributes 4 percent to Gross Domestic Product and employs more than 200, 000 people.

The sharp decline in tourism arrivals has been attributed to the hijacking last December of an Indian Airlines jet out of TIA, the corresponding boycott of TIA by Indian Airlines, deteriorating flight-safety at the airport and growing pollution of Kathmandu Valley.

This is the fourth time in Nepal’s history that tourist arrivals by air have recorded a negative trend. Similar setbacks occured in 1984, 1989 and 1993.

According to latest figures, the turnout of tourists from third countries in the nine month period fell by 1.6 percent over last year. But Indian tourist arrival, the backbone of the nation’s tourism industry, fell by a whopping 32 percent. Total number of tourists in the year 1999 was registered at 287,768 during this period, while this year the number of tourist arrival is registered at 250,957, which is a 12.79 percent shortfall.

Tourism officials do not doubt what caused the sharp decline. The Indian Airlines hijacking on December 24 last year and the following boycott of Kathmandu airport by Indian Airlines for five months are to blame, they say.

Pradeep Raj Pandey, Chief Executive Officer of NTB said that the IA hijacking was the major reason for the decline in the number of tourists since Indian and other tourists feared travelling to Nepal. Besides this, weak infrastructure, increasing pollution, air safety, are also to blame, he said.

However, CEO Pandey asserts that Nepal should not view one year’s trend alone. There is a need to study the international trend of tourist arrival, he said. "Most important is that the tourism industry does not have enough investment here to compete with the world markets."

In a bid to arrest unavoidable anomalies in the tourism industry, Pandey asserts, "NTB is adopting a two-pronged strategy at `home and abroad’ by launching a marketing campaign."

Some tourism entrepreneurs also contend that the high cost of air fares to Nepal, deteriorating condition of national flag carrier RNAC and weak marketing of the nation as a tourism destination, are also to blame for the sharp downturn.

Narendra Bajracharya, President of Hotel Association Nepal (HAN) said that there is a need to study the interests of tourists and what needs to be done to entice them to visit Nepal. That, he says, will be useful in making new strategies for tourism growth. He also blamed NTB for not doing enough to market Nepal as a destination in the global market.

Concurring the same view, Subodh Rana, Managing Director of Marcopolo Travels who holds also GSA for Transavia Airlines said that more effective marketing of the country was needed if the tourism industry is to rebound.

Deuba says rebels ready to talk
Statement puts Koirala in a difficult spot

By Suman Pradhan

KATHMANDU, Oct 15 - The tenure of the Sher Bahadur Deuba-led high level government committee to find a solution to the Maoist problem is ending tomorrow, giving rise to a flurry of last minute activity inside the governing Nepali Congress party.

While Deuba and his benefactor, former Prime Minister K P Bhattarai, want the tenure of the committee extended, their rivals in the NC, specially those close to Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, want the committee dissolved once and for all. Though there is no official indication what the Koirala government will decide, Deuba is taking no chances.

In a statement issued late Sunday, Deuba, who is also a former Prime Minister, said that the Maoist rebels had shown a willingness to talk if the government makes public the whereabouts of a captured rebel leader.

"I recently had talks with the central leadership of the Maoists," Deuba said in the statement. "They have promised to stop all offensive action and come to the negotiating table if the whereabouts of (rebel leader) Dinesh Sharma and others is made public."

The last minute statement from Deuba is clearly an attempt to pressure Koirala to extend the tenure of his committee, which so far has remained almost defunct since the rebels rejected the possibility of talks in early August. Deuba has also called a meeting of the once high-flying committee tomorrow, just before its tenure ends.

Sources close to Koirala confided to The Kathmandu Post late Sunday that Deuba’s statement had made the situation fluid, and that the Prime Minister would now respond after considering all the options.

"If we now fail to extend the committee’s tenure then we will be blamed for derailing the search for a solution," a trusted Koirala aide said. "Besides, all that has been asked from us is to disclose the whereabouts and condition of the rebel leaders. This is a very tricky situation for us politically."

The Deuba committee was formed by former PM Bhattarai last year soon after he became the Prime Minister following the NC’s triumph in the general elections. Deuba had nearly succeeded in bringing the rebels to the negotiating table early this year, but the scenario changed after Koirala ousted Bhattarai in March and took up the mantle of the Prime Minister himself.

Despite the flurry of activity from Deuba, the mood in the Koirala camp is not too conducive towards the Deuba committee, at least on the surface. Early this month, former Home Minister Govinda Raj Joshi, while resigning his position in the aftermath of the police disaster in Dunai, Dolpa, publicly accused Deuba of siding with the rebels than with the government.

And on Sunday, Minister for Defence and Finance Mahesh Acharya, during a meet the press programme in the capital, alleged Deuba of whining of not being given enough mandate from the government while in fact he had been given written permission from the prime minister to negotiate with the rebels.

Both Acharya and Joshi are considered close confidantes of Koirala, who is facing a tough challenge to his leadership from Deuba and Bhattarai in the NC’s general convention slated for January next year.

The Deuba camp meanwhile is keeping its fingers crossed. It knows that it is in a win-win situation, according to sources. If Koirala fails to extend the committee’s tenure, he gets the blame for derailing the search for a solution. If he does extend the tenure, then Deuba could succeed in bringing the rebels to the negotiating table, gaining tremendous political mileage just when the party is gearing up for the general convention.

Leaders still differ on Maoist problem

Post Report

KATHMANDU, Oct 15 - Leaders of the ruling party and the main opposition differed Sunday on the character of the Maoist rebels’ violent agitation plaguing the country.

While newly-appointed Defence Minister Mahesh Acharya of Nepali Congress (NC) called the rebels "terrorists", leader of the main opposition Madhav Kumar Nepal of Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) termed the Maoists "ultra-leftists" who are resorting to violence.

"If killing people and police and destroying property is not terrorism, then what is?" said Acharya, adding "the government and NC are also committed to holding dialogue with the rebels." "However, basic constitutional characters like multi-party democracy and constitutional monarchy are not negotiable," he added.

The defence minister added that army is brought out of barracks as the "law and order situation in the country has worsened", and stressed that army or police was not directed against any individual or party.

Answering a question, the defence minister denied the two-prong govt strategy of mobilising the army and at the same time the call for dialogue with Maoists was at cross purposes and would send a wrong signal.

Speaking about the term of Deuba-led High level Consensus-seeking Commission to resolve Maoist insurgency that ends tomorrow, Acharya did not give any categorical reply and merely said that Deuba Commission had been provided full support by the government and the ruling party to resolve insurgency.

Meanwhile, Madhav Kumar Nepal accused the ruling party of abetting insurgency by its various acts of omission and commission. "Why have the government not positively responded to the Maoists’ call for dialogue issued from time to time?"

The opposition leader quoted Deuba who had reportedly told him that his commission was confident of resolving the Maoist insurgency, but Deuba told him Saturday that the government was not serious on its resolution.

"Deuba told me that rebels have asked for three simple demands -whereabouts of their arrested comrades, end to state terror, and abolition of false criminal cases against the rebels - which can easily be met," said Nepal. He also accused the government of wreaking havoc on police system by their indulgence in nepotism on recruitment of police personnel.

Nepal said the insurgency was a result of deteriorating social, economical and political conditions and stressed that army mobilisation was not the solution.

Both Pashupati Shumsher JBR, Secretary General of Rastriya Prajatantra Party and Hridyesh Tripathi, of Nepal Sadbhavana Party concurred with Nepal’s views and urged the government for dialogue with rebels.

These leaders were speaking at a talk programme organised by Reporters’ Club today.

Tripathi said there was "utter confusion" in the government on the status of insurgency. "Do they treat it as political or terrorist agitation?"

The NSP leader added that his party had drawn two conclusions from the Maoists’ statement after Dunai police massacre that they would talk with other framers of the Constitution. "One, the rebels do not want to talk with the government alone, and second, they want to resolve the problem through amendments in the Constitution."

Tripathi also questioned the utility of the Deuba Commission in the light of deputy prime minister’s call for a "dialogue package" through a human rights activist.

Pashupati Shumsher of RPP said if the insurgency was not resolved immediately, "it might spill over on neighbouring countries and then we will have to contend with extra territorial pressure."

Referring to the controversy surrounding the "removal" of Inspector General of Police Achyut Krishna Kharel, Madhav Kumar Nepal said a police chief can be removed "if he proves to be a stumbling block in the peace process or disobeys the government". Meanwhile, a press release by CPN-UML termed the current law and order situation in the country "grave and deteriorating" and accused the government of "unjustified hike" in petroleum products and failing to solve the issues of insurgency, garbage dumping and bird hazard at the only international airport of the country.

Oppn demonstrate against petro hike

Post Report

KATHMANDU, Oct 15 - The main opposition CPN-UML and other left parties today held demonstrations across the country protesting the hike in the prices of petro-products and demanding immediate rollback, two days after the government announced the hike.

The government on Oct 13 took the decision that hiked the price of petrol, diesel and kerosene to Rs 47, Rs 27.50 and Rs 26, up from Rs 40, Rs 23 and Rs 13, respectively. The government reasoned that it was compelled to take the move in view of increasing petro-price in the international market and in neighbouring India.

As a customary practice, the main opposition CPN-UML today held a massive protest rally and a mass meeting in the capital to press the government to rollback the price-hike. The rally which kicked-off from Ratnapark at the heart of the capital went round capital’s major thoroughfares came back to Ratnapark to end into a mass meeting.

Addressing the mass meeting, some of the senior UML leaders, including the Stand Committee member Ishwor Pokharel, lambasted the government for the price-hikes. They also warned that the ruling Nepali Congress is bound to face "dire consequences if it fails to withdraw its unpopular decision immediately".

Referring to last year’s oil prices hike and government’s failure to rollback the prices, Pokharel said, "Government had even passed a resolution to roll back the prices but it didn’t implement it. This time we won’t let the government deceive the people."

The party also announced various protest programmes starting tomorrow. They include protest cycle rally around the capital, Singh Durbar, and Cabinet Secretariat picketing Monday. "Our general secretary will also hand over a memorandum to the Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala tomorrow," Pokharel said, adding that more protests shall follow.

Meanwhile, Nine leftist group also held a protest rally and mass meeting even demanding the government to step down for what they called a "grand design" against the people.

"We might even repeat the popular people’s movement of 1990 to oust this government if it keeps on indulging in wrong doings like the price hike of the basic commodities," said the CPN-ML leader Siddhi Lal Singh addressing the mass gathering.

Ameek Sherchan of the Samyukta Jan Morcha, another faction of the leftist group, said that government had hiked the prices merely to grease the palms of the prosperous oil traders and the government officials.

"The demonstration programs will continue unless the government takes back its decision," said Sherchan. He also urged the main opposition to "unitedly fight the government".

The leftist group also announced series of protest programmes. Gherao of Nepal Oil Corporation, the sole distributor of the petroleum products in the country on Oct 17 and burning of Premier’s effigy on Oct 19 are some of them.

Other opposition parties, Nepal Sadbhavana Party and CPN-United, issuing separate press statements here today, also condemned the price-hikes.

Similarly, civil society too lambasted the government’s for the price-hike of the basic commodities like petroleum products. Citizen Concern Society, Nepal Government Employees Organisation and Socialist Movement Nepal and Association of Nepalese Indigenous Journalists have protest the price-hikes.

CPN-UML also held various protest programmes across the country, according to reports reaching here from different parts of the country.

RNA's UN force under probe

KATHMANDU, Oct 15 (PR) - The Royal Nepal Army has initiated necessary procedures to investigate and court-martial its personnel who were reportedly involved in selling ammunition illegally while stationed on a UN peace keeping duty in Lebanon.

According to a reliable source, a committee headed by Brig. General Kiran Shamsher Thapa will carry out the probe. The Nepalese government is said to have been under the pressure of the international community who had accused Nepalese soldiers, including an army colonel, for selling some 5-6 thousand rounds of bullets to Hezbullah and other groups.

Falconry, anyone?

Post Report

KATHMANDU, Oct 15 - It is not just at Kathmandu airport where birds are a problem, but also at airports of highly developed nations. But instead of bungling the remedies, airports around the world have managed to use low cost but effective methods to control the bird menace.

Take for instance Kennedy International Airport in New York, USA. According to today’s issue of The New York Times, the number of aircraft-bird collisions at the airport plummeted after airport authorities used trained falcons to scare the birds away.

The Times reported that the method used by the airport authorities in New York is to tie bird wings to long strings and swing it through the air. This in turn incites falcons, predators as they are, to swoop down on the wings.

"The theory is that other birds can see (the falcons) in a hunting mode and are scared away," the paper quoted a wildlife biologist working with the airport." Since Kennedy Airport authorities began using falconry in 1996, aircraft-bird collisions have plummeted by nearly two thirds, says the report.

The Times also reported that airport authorities had earlier tried using loud guns but with little effect. They also brought in real shooters to kill the birds, but that raised the hackles of animal rights activists. Falconry, on the other hand, has worked wonders without much of a fuss.

Cabinet reshuffle likely
PM asks Bhattarai his choice

Post Report

KATHMANDU, Oct 15 - Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala today asked the senior Nepali Congress leader Krishna Prasad Bhattarai to present the names of his choice of people to be inducted into the Cabinet.

According to a highly placed source, the much-awaited reshuffle in the Cabinet that was agreed between the two leaders following the rebellion against Koirala is expected as early as Wednesday.

In a brief meeting today, Koirala asked Bhattarai for the list. One of the four agreements reached between the two leaders was that there would be a reshuffle to include equal number of members from both the Bhattarai and Koirala camps.

However, the source rejected the possibility of Khum Bahadur Khadka joining the Cabinet. Khadka who led the signature campaign against Koirala in August was sacked as the Minister for Water Resources by Koirala.

Army deployed in Ramechhap

Post Report

KATHMANDU, Oct 15 - As per the recent decision of the National Defence Council to deploy Royal Nepal Army in Maoist-hit districts, army has been mobilized at Ramechhap district headquarters Manthali.

Some 30-40 armymen from nearby Narayan Battalion at Ramechhap Bazaar arrived in the district headquarters Friday. The armymen, camped near the District Administration Office, have already started to patrol the area.

NDC -- comprising the Prime Minister, Defence Minister and the Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Nepal Army -- activated the District Defence Committees in the insurgency hotbeds a few days ago as to execute joint police-army patrol operations to check the insurgency.

NDC has also mandated the Chief District Officers, who heads the DDCs, to use their discretion to conduct joint operations in their concerned districts.

The army has been mobilized in altogether 16 Maoist affected districts, including Ramechhap till date.