KMC to have better garbage transfer station

Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, Dec 1 - The locals of the Kathmanmdu Metropolitan City (KMC) Ward No. 12 may not have to close their windows the whole day in the near future as the stinking messy ground in front of their houses, used presently to temporarily store the garbage from the city is soon changing into a systematic transfer station.

The Kathmandu Valley Mapping Project (KVMP), a joint venture of KMC and the European Commission, is investing over Rs 10 million to develop the 32 -ropani- land at Teku, next to the KMC Central Office and the Nepal Transportation Corporation.

"Around one third of the land will be used as green space. The poorly managed land will soon be turned into a real piece of garden and one will not have to close his eyes or shut his nose to avoid foul smell of the garbage," said Padma Sundar Joshi, the co-director of KVMP.

"The contractors have recently started working on it and physical work will continue from the next week," Joshi said. The project is expected to be complete within six months.

The land, beside the Bishnumati river, presently under the possession of the Ministry of Local Development and KMC has the authority to use the land.

The entire area is now filled with huge piles of garbage brought to the area from all directions of the metropolis — around 600 cubic metre daily. Since the KMC lacks proper equipment, loading and unloading the piled-up trash takes more time than it actually needs, the workers said.

They said the rag-pickers who often climb on the huge pile of garbage even worsen the situation as they keep on steering the mountain of garbage and do not let it dry.

"Working on the garbage is a hellish experience here," said Ram Krishna, a cleaning staff at the site.

The chief of Solid Waste Management Section Rajesh Manandhar hoped that the situation would improve as "KVMP is working in coordination with the local representatives."

"The ground will be broadly divided into three regions — a garden, a parking lane and a waste-loading platform. The area will be free from intolerable smell, haphazard unloading and infections," he said.

According to the plan prepared by the KVMP technicians, there will be a big garden with dubo-ground, bushes, chairs, slides and swings. The middle region will have parking area with a washing platform and a servicing centre for around 50 vehicles of KMC, mainly of the Solid Waste Section.

"There will be a plenty of green open space, which will help to reduce pollution to some extent. The appalling scene you see there is the result of the lack of management. The whole ground is an open dumping site which is against the principle of a transfer station," Manandhar said.

The plan states that a Demonstration Compost and Vermi Compost Unit will be established to reduce the volume of garbage to some extent.

"We have also a plant to erect a bio-chemical incinerator to refine hazardous medical waste," Manandhar said.

According to him, a day-care centre for the children of sweepers will be constructed which will also have a separate playing ground for them. "The area will also serve as an information centre to the school children providing them basic knowledge on environment,"

"Two separate doors for entry and exit will be made and the garbage will be systematically unloaded on specific areas. A platform will also be constructed to help dump waste materials from small vehicles to bigger trippers directly without littering the ground", he added.

Ministers apprised of district problems

Post Report

KATHMANDU, Dec 1 – A four-member delegation led by lawmaker Yankila Sherpa on Friday met Assistant Home Minister Devendra Raj Kandel and apprised him of the situation of Solukhumbu, said a press release issued by Sherpa, King-nominated lawmaker in the Upper House.

Similarly, the team also met Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation and Culture Bal Bahadur K.C. and Assistant Minister Sarba Dhan Rai on Friday to draw their attention to the situation of the district.

The team is comprised of lawmaker Suresh Karki, Vice-Chairman of Solukhumbu, District Development Committees Prem Kumar Shrestha and Dorji Jangbu Lama, member of the Central Public Relation Department of the CPN-UML.

The team demanded the ministers to provide security at the Faplu Airport, and make arrangements for regular flights to the airport keeping in view the tourism aspect of the district, the release said.

Call to eliminate violence against women

KATHMANDU, Dec 1 (PR) - The eight-day- trainers’ training for volunteers and activists working on community initiations to eliminate violence against women was concluded today.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister of State for Women, Children and Social Welfare Sushila Swar said that violence against women in its different forms has been known to have existed in the Nepali society since the time immemorial.

"The government is doing various programmes to eliminate the violence against women and still the effort is not enough", she said.

Pramada Shah, Vice-President of SAATHI highlighted on the importance of training to eliminate violence against women where women are always being abused in the context of Nepal.

"Violence against women and girls in Nepal is a pioneering effort undertaken to assess the situation and bring about positive changes through this training," said Bandana Rana, General Secretary of SAATHI.

"Females only cannot fight for their rights so their male counterparts should also join hands with them to materialise their dream of violence-free society come true," she said.

Twenty-two participants who were from different districts of Nepal participated in the training that kicked off on November 25.

Sharpening young minds mathematics contest way!

Post Report

KATHMANDU, Dec 1 – Weekly quiz and spelling contests may not be new for Kathmandu’s elite English schools. Ever heard of a mathematics contest, with young students murmuring and bending their fingers to get their answers correct?

On Saturday, The British School brought together students from half a dozen schools which are popular among expatriate children in the Valley and organised what it described as first ever Inter-School Mathematics Competition in its school premises at Jhamsikhel.

A total of 65 students from seven schools participated in the contest.

The schools participating in the mathematics contest included Rato Bangla, St. Xaviers, Budhanilkantha, Lincolns, The British School (TBS), Kathmandu International Study Centre (KISC) and Malpi International.

There were separate competitions for competitors in each of the two age groups, 12 – 14 years olds and 15- 16 years old. The events consisted of Puzzle Corner, Math’s Quiz, Team Competition, ICT Carousel and Individual Answer Competition.

The winners in the overall category in the 12 to 14 years section were Rato Bangla (first), The British School (second) and The British School (third). Likewise, in the 15-16 years age group the winners were Buddhanilkantha (first), St.Xaviers (second) and Lincoln (third).

Graeme Keslake, a mathematics teacher of the TBS organised the whole event. He said that he had gathered the idea of organising such an event from Malaysia, where they had to participate in a similar competition.

By holding such an event, he aims to teach children teamwork and instill keen interest on mathematics. The idea is to have fun while doing maths. "It is so good to see them enjoying what they are doing and I am sure this effort will not go waste," he said.

The principal of TBS, Sandj Wilderspin, who has been running the school for the last six years, has a great hand in making this event happen.

"I have been pushing for membership for a long time now and it gives me immense pleasure to start such an extraordinary event," she said. "The interaction and the fun that the children have with each other is a good sight to watch and we surely hope that there will be more schools joining us next time unlike today."

NHS to support Kartik dance

Post Report

LALITPUR, Dec 1 - The Nepal Heritage Society (NHS) today announced that it would help preserve the 350 years old stage drama-dance Kartik naach from its own fund and also by raising funds.

Vice President of NHS Pratima Pande said,"We just heard about the condition of the Kartik naach(dance). I would like to announce that NHS is ready to support this dance, which is now facing financial crisis, either from our fund or by raising fund from outside."

She was addressing the 17th annual meeting of NHS.

Cultural expert Satya Mohan Joshi said conserving the tangible and non-tangible heritage of the country has been a tough task these days because of the changing attitude of the young generation toward heritage conservation and also because of the government’s indifferent attitude.

" The government, non-governmental organisations and the civic society should come together and work sincerely to maintain the country’s identity," Joshi said.

NHS also felicitated 15 senior instructors of dhaa drums, the typical traditional drum played by the Buddhist Newars specially in the month of Gunla (August-September).

The instructors were Manju Bajracharya, Karna Jyoti Bajracharya, Kulchandra Bajracharya of Bhaktapur, Drabya Ratna Shakya, Janak Narayan Manandhar, Kul Bahadur Shakya of Kathmandu, Kote Maharjan of Kirtipur and Chakra Raj Shakya, Chandra Dev Shakya, Tirtha Raj Shakya, Ashakaji Shakya, Nanda Krishna Tamrakar, Jyoti Man Shakya, Ratna Raj Shakya and Ratna Dhowj Shakya of Patan.

General Secretary of NHS Ishwor Man Pradhan said these instructors of the elderly generation also represent the age when people whole-heartedly gave continuation to the age-long tradition of the Kathmandu Valley.

"They are in fact the living legends whom the nation should pay respect. We must learn to be proud of them for their commitments in the preservation of native music and dance, which actually present a unique identity of the country to the whole world," he said.

Pradhan shed light on the various activities NHS launched last year and treasurer Dolly Rana presented estimated budget for the coming fiscal year. According to Rana’s report, the total budget for the fiscal year- 2058/59 is Rs 3,736,740, which includes both secured and anticipated budget.

Why are you rude to your own customers?

Ram Sharan Sedhai

Being it my first trip abroad, I certainly did not know all the procedures of getting a visa to reconfirming my flight tickets. But what struck me during the process is the behaviour of the employees at the head office of the Qatar Airways to the security personnel at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA).

Upon receiving my tickets, I went to the TIA office of Qatar Airways to get my ticket reconfirmed. A lady at the counter rudely told me to wait for a few minutes. I did as I was told. Then I inquired politely to another lady about reconfirmation of my ticket. She too was impolite, yet I bore with her.

As my ticket was issued from outside, it took some time to get it reconfirmed. Meanwhile, I saw the officials dealing with other customers, most of them, I presume, were about to leave for Qatar for employment, in a very rough manner.

Being a journalist, I did not bother to don myself in suit and tie. I went there in a casual dress. It may be one of the reasons they ill-treated me, but that too is not justifiable. I did not disclose that I was a journalist because I always want to present myself as a common man.

I had the impression that people in travel trade business could not be impolite. I ever put the airline industry in equal footing to hospitality industry especially in terms of politeness, for I am also a little bit conscious of etiquette.

What I found and perceived is that most of the passengers of the airlines happened to be illiterate or just literate rural Nepali folks going Qatar for some low profile jobs. Of course, it is a little bit difficult for the employees to deal with them, but it does not necessarily mean that the airline staff should be rude to their customers.

Two days later, I went to the TIA, again in a casual dress. Officials at the Immigration Department took it for granted that I was going there for work and asked me to produce my working visa given by the Qatar Government. I was compelled to identify myself as a journalist. Only this was enough for them to change their treatment to me.

Clearing the first hurdle, I entered the security gate. No sooner I was in. Then a policeman asked me how many passports I had, again supposing me a blue colour job seeker in Qatar as my destination was Doha. This time I replied him in a little bit stronger words, yet maintaining civility.

With some hitches, I boarded Qatar Airways plane. There were many Nepalis aboard going Qatar for employment. I talked to them during the five-hour flight from Kathmandu to Doha, the Qatari capital. Some of them who had flight with the Qatar Airways said that the service on board was not up to the international standard. Particularly, he said that the Airlines even does not provide its passengers with beer. Being a teetotaler and first-timer, I had no knowledge about serving in-flight beverages. So it did not matter for me.

In my return flight I happened to be with some people who had flown abroad many times. It was the same airlines’ plane. One of them asked for a can of beer and a flight attendant served him with one. He too said that they do not bother offering beer unless one opens his mouth. And it is because the economy class passengers are Nepali mostly working in Qatar and they underrate them.

Upon arrival at the TIA, the officials at the departure section asked to produce my passport. Looking at my passport, he asked me whether I had come to Nepal on vacation. As I had stayed only for six days in Doha, Qatar, this time I had to tell him that I had been Doha to participate in the Fourth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Then he apologized me for mistakenly asking the question.

One thing has ever struck me since then: Do all Nepalis go to Qatar for working there only? And why at least the high-level officials cannot think that all sorts of people travel abroad passing through their gates? And is it necessary to ill-treat the working class people by all the concerned? Will someone answer?