Hyumat’s butchers are against slaughterhouse

By Shobha Adhikari

KATHMANDU- Not many people in the Valley may have heard of a place called Hyumat Tole near Teku. Not even the Valley’s meat eaters who love their buff momos. Hyumat Tole is a butcher neighbourhood, with much of the households depending on buffalo flesh for a living on government land.

But Hyumat Tole’s butchers now have an axe to grind with the Kathmandu Municipal Corporation. They do not want it to go ahead with the decision to set up a slaughterhouse in Ward 12 of their Tole.

"We won’t let the slaughterhouse to be put up here. It will occupy 40 ropanis, and the government will smash up our houses. Where will we go with our small children?" asks infuriated Laxmi Devi Karki whose husband is one among the dozen or so butchers of Hyumat Tole.

The butchers and their families fear that a modern slaughterhouse with its slaughter machines will render them jobless and even shelter-less.

"I am used to receiving 40 rupees for killing one buffalo. I cut minimum three or four a day. But if a slaughterhouse comes here, the machines will do all my work. Then I can’t take care of my family, let me pray to god that this never happens," says an anxious butcher not wanting to be identified fearing authority action.

The opposition against the slaughterhouse has been so strong that the KMC officials who went to Hyumat Tole twice to lay the foundation stone were stopped by the locals.

Hyumat Tole itself is not the greatest sight on earth nor is it perfumed land. With over 50 buffaloes slaughtered here everyday, the place is a bloody mess of bovine parts, flies and worms, and reeks as if of all bad smell put together.

But the butchers think that the place will turn hygienically even worse with an abattoir because all the Valley’s animal relics will be dumped here.

The KMC authorities don’t think so. Hygiene was exactly the factor that made them decide on Hyumat Tole as a slaughterhouse location. For long, the KMC has been receiving complaints about the unhealthy quality of meat being supplied by the butchers in the capital. With no real inspecting body to check the health (nor the age) of the buffaloes before they are slaughtered, sick meat has been a cause of worry for the Valley’s meat lovers. The KMC says ailments like diarrhoea and jaundice have caught on in Kathmandu due to consumption of unsafe meat.

"We have to set up a slaughterhouse for the sake of hygiene. In such a slaughterhouse, buffaloes won’t be killed indiscriminately, and there will be restriction on the slaughters," says Jyoti Bhusan Pradhan, Chief of KMC Public Construction Department.

Pradhan says "political whims" are behind the Hyumat Tole butchers protesting against the slaughterhouse. "It’s politics that is egging on the people to think negatively, all we are looking for is 10 ropanis of land for a safe and clean slaugherhouse. If we can’t do it at the proposed place, we might have to do it elsewhere nearby," he says.

In a Valley where meat eaters make up the majority, everyone would agree that the animals have to go through a test before they are slain. A well-run slaughterhouse would make that possible. But with Hyumat Tole’s butchers not willing to give up their place, where will that slaughterhouse come up that will make the momos safe and sweet?

USTC scholarships to diligent, needy students

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KATHMANDU, Dec 26 - The University of Science and Technology(USTC), Chittagong, Bangladesh has decided to provide scholarships to those industrious Nepalese students who topped various campuses in Nepal and those affiliated to Tribhuvan University (TU) and are in need of scholarships.

At a programme organised by the Alumni Association of USTC, Professor and Founder- Vice Chancellor of USTC said at present there are a total of 220 Nepalese students in the university of whom 105 are males and 115 are females constituting 33 percent of the total students.

"The performance of the Nepalese students is very satisfactory and their hard work result in par with international students. Also their dedication and their academic presentation in a disciplined manner is the main reason for their sucess".

He further said that as the university there was a private institution, education environment was far from political influence and students were strongly prohibited to involve in politics which resulted in tough competition and courses completed in time that meant 5 years.

"Students of developing countries like Nepal should work hard," he said.

Senior Gynecologist Dr Bhola Risal said the students should grab such types of opportunities rather than investing money to achieve one’s target. "Most of the disease pattern which the people of the developing countries suffer is of similar types so their knowledge and skill will be fully benefited by the country and they should be service- oriented rather than going after money to recover the investment," he added.

President of the Association Dr.Bina Prajapati said to maintain the sound academic record kept by the seniors, the newcomer students should work hard to compete with international students and take the advantage of the oppurtunity. All the members of the association recommended the college to provide financial support to some needy students.

The programme was co-ordinated by the final year medical students of the USTC.

Traffic police all prepared for a smooth ride

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KATHMANDU, Dec 26- The Valley Traffic Police Office (VTPO) has introduced new measures to curb the movement of vehicles from Sunday in order to facilitate the VIP movement during the 11th SAARC Summit, to be held here from January 4.

The VTPO today began a rehearsal from 7 to 9 a.m. in preparation for the upcoming Summit from Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) to Soaltee Hotel, where the foreign dignitaries will be residing. The rehearsal will continue till Saturday.

The rehearsal team includes, all the security officials concerned - the police, VTPO officers, Royal Nepal Army officers, officers of the Armed Police Force, members of the SAARC coordination committee and protocol section of the Foreign Ministry.

Meanwhile, the sources close to the police said that a rehearsal rescue operation is also being carried out in case of any eventualities.

The VTPO indicated that the schools in the Valley would be closed on Friday and Sunday to control the vehicular movement to bring about a less chaotic traffic.

"To ensure that the traffic is safe and secure, we are doing everything we can," said Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Keshav Prasad Baral of VTPO.

The measures are taken as per the notification issued by the Department of Transport Management on Tuesday. According to the notification, no vehicles will be permitted to ply around the Birendra International Convention Centre, the venue of the SAARC Summit, 12-hours before the Summit kicks off.

It said that an alternative route would be provided to the public commuters. But the VTPO officials themselves say that there is no alternative rout possible inside the Valley.

"We have been issuing passes to ambulance, other important vehicles for SAARC meet and the security vehicles," said Baral. He also said that all the means of public transport, and tourist and private vehicles, those with uneven numbers are required to ply only on uneven days and those with even numbers on even days. This arrangement will not apply to the vehicles to be used for SAARC purpose and such vehicles will be provided passes by the VTPO.

According to the Ministry of Labour and Transport Management, both big and small vehicles and other private goods carriers have been totally prohibited from plying inside the Ring Road between 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. from December 30 to January 8.

The notification also calls for strict observance of the new rules. "We will take stern action against all those violating our notice," said an official at the Department of Transport Management. But he said that the Department sees no visible problems due to these new traffic measures imposed by the Transport Management Authority for the Summit.

Role of print media discussed

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KATHMANDU, Dec 26 – An interaction programme on Women in Print Media was held at the Sancharika Samuha today with the participation of journalists and editors of various daily and weekly newspapers.

The programme discussed the role of print media in promoting gender equality and initiatives taken by the particular news papers to promote the participation of women in print media. While Kapil Kafle, editor of Samacharpatra said that they give a full-page coverage for women issues every Thursday, editor of The Rising Nepal, Lok Deep Thapa conveyed that they do not have such lay outs or columns that is kept specifically for women issues. However, he said, "We have an open-door policy for women who want to join journalism and take the challenge".

Disagreeing with Thapa, assistant resident representative of the UNDP, Bharati Silwal Giri commented that just an open door policy doesn’t help in women empowerment because socio-cultural norms and traditions have bounded women.

Under such circumstances, when women are bounded in social and cultural norms and traditions, editor of Space Time, Dev Prakash Tripathi said that it was too early to talk about women’s participation in journalism or any other sector. He said, "Literacy rate is still very low in Nepal and the question of human rights and women rights, though largely brought about has still a long way to go".

Women, in general, have to come forward and take the challenge, he said.

Law journalists meet Chief Justice

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KATHMANDU, Dec 26 - Executives and members of Nepal Law Journalists’ Forum today met Chief Justice Keshav Prasad Upadhyay at his chamber.Chief Justice Upadhyay asked the journos to be cautious while disseminating court and law report since it is quite sensitive and relates to the dispensation of justice.

A group of law journalists led by the Forum’s Chairman Krishna Murari Bhandari apprised the Chief Justice of the problems journalists are facing while reporting about court and law. Other journalists to meet the Chief Justice were : vice-chairman Chet Bahadur Singh, general secretary Shiva Gaule, treasurer Ananta Raj Luintel, members Rudra Sharma, Bal Krishna Basnet, Puskar Thapa and Bikas Bhattarai, all of whom affiliated to the Forum.

Talking to the journalists Chief Justice Upadhyay said the journalists who are affiliated to the Forum should bear more responsibilities such as educating and nurturing all other journalists who intend to report or write about law and court.

While talking to the Chief Justice, the journalists said they felt the responsibility of reporting law and court and they wanted to extend their network to all other related journalists.

An adhoc committee of the Forum was formed one moth ago.

RNA seizes dozens of arms, search continues

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KATHMANDU, Dec 26 - A joint Cordon and Search Operation of the Royal Nepal Army and the Armed Police Force (APF) seized a large chunk of arms and ammunition from Dhankuta district over the last few days, our reporter today quoted the security officials as saying.

Despite the army operations, the Maoist rebels have continued attacking civilians and cadres of other political parties in some districts, reports received here said.

A report from Dhankuta says that a joint Cordon and Search Operation of the Royal Nepal Army (RNA) and the Armed Police Force (APF) on Tuesday arrested four Maoist suspects along with a cache of arms from remote areas of the district. The security forces confiscated around four dozens home-made guns since the army operation began four weeks ago.

A high-level police source said that the forces have already identified some caves in the jungles of rural areas where the rebels have hidden their arms and ammunition. The source added that the army and the police have escalated their search and destroy operation in the Maoist hide-outs.

Meanwhile, our reporter from Surkhet states that the rebel Maoists have disrupted a postal route to and from Dolpa and Jajarkot districts over last few days.

Regional Postal Director in Surkhet, Dinanath Lamsal, said that he received such information through his postmen. The postmen said that the rebels threatened to kill them if they defy the Maoist orders.

Talking over telephone, Dolpa Chief District Officer, Kailashnath Kharel, also confirmed that the service had been disrupted for the last few days due to the Maoist threats to the postmen.

In yet another incident in Lamjung district, the armed rebel broke the right leg of a former teacher, Rudra Raj Kandel, in the far-eastern Chakra Tirtha VDC on Wednesday morning. Eye-witnesses said that Kandel was attacked at his home with Khukuris and iron rods. The injured has been airlifted to Kathmandu for treatment.

Likewise, our Chitwan-based reporter stated that dozens of armed Maoists on Tuesday evening assaulted Krishna Subedi, CPN-UML’s secretary of the Devghat VDC in Tanahun district.

In another report from far-flung hill district of Mugu, the rebels abducted a Nepali Congress District Committee member, Khadga Bahadur Shahi, from the Talchi airport two weeks ago. Shahi, who is also the member of the Talchi Airport Construction Coordination Committee, was abducted while inspecting on-going works of the airport. The construction work of the airport has come to a halt in protest against Shahi’s abduction.

Fire destroys 48 houses in Jumla

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JUMLA, Dec 26 - About four dozen houses were reduced to a cinder after being caught by the fire at ward No. 7 and 8 of the Guthichaur VDC, about 40 kilometres east of here, the district headquarters, according to the VDC Chairman.

VDC Chairman, Kaman Singh Aedi, said that more than 10 million rupees worth of property was gutted on the fire. He said that the fire could not be extinguished for five days. Several victims are taking refuge in neighbouring villages and others have arrived here with a hope of receiving relief from the local authorities.

Meanwhile, our reporter from Pokhara said that property worth more than Rs. 1 million has been reduced to a cinder due to short-circuit in an electric shop owned by a local, Resham Shrestha, at Prithvi Chowk early on Wednesday.

Dozens of radio and TV sets and gas cylinders were destroyed on the fire caused by the

short circuit. But fire-fighters immediately put out it before catching other shops in the area, police said.

Teachers, reporter imprisoned

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BESI SAHAR (Lamjung), Dec 26 - Six people, including four teachers and a journalist, were put behind the bars on charges of their involvement with "terrorist" activities, the Lamjung District Administration Office said here Wednesday.

The people who were imprisoned on the charges have been identified as Keshav Adhikari, District Secretary of the Nepal Teachers Organisation and the teacher at Bal Kalyan high school, Tek Bahadur Gurung, the teacher of the same school, Ram Prasad Poudel, the Headmaster of Laxmi Narayan high school, and Basudev Poudel, the teacher at Sooryodaya high school.

Others to be imprisoned on the same charges include Anjan Kumar Himali, a district correspondent of the Samadristi Weekly and Gopal Pokharel of Anar Bazaar VDC-8 of the district. All of them were taken into police custody for the last week.

‘Emergency will continue until rebels are disarmed’

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BUTWAL, Dec 26 - Minister for Physical Planning and Works, Chiranjivi Wagle, said here on Wednesday that the state of emergency and mobilisation of the Royal Nepal Army (RNA) would continue until the Maoist "terrorists" were disarmed and peace was restored in the country.

Expressing his satisfaction over the jobs carried out by the security forces in their assigned mission, the minister, who was also the government’s coordinator to hold peace talks with the Maoist rebels, said, "The state of emergency and the army mobilisation will continue until the government’s set aim is achieved." Minister Wagle made this remark while addressing a meet-the-press programme organised here by Western Region Committee of the Nepal Press Union.

When asked to comment on the recent appeal of the Maoist leadership to the United Nations and the European Community asking them to mediate between them (rebels) and the government, the senior minister termed it an "irrelevant" proposal in the new context.

Commenting on the so-called national government recently proposed by the Nepali Congress President, Girija Prasad Koirala, Minister Wagle said it (the proposal) was unconstitutional. "Nobody can go beyond the constitutional limitation." He, however, maintained that all the political parties should forge a national consensus for bringing about changes in election system, social and economic condition of the country for safeguarding the hard-earned democratic system.

Telephone service disrupted

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HETAUDA, Dec 26 - People of Daman, Palung, Bajrabarahi and Chitlang areas are deprived of communication facilities after the telephone services available in these areas went out of order for the last one month.

These bazaars situated north of here are the reputed commercial hubs of Makawanpur district. Locals said that all the 70 telephone lines distributed in the four VDCs have remained out of order for the last one month.

Palung VDC Chairman, Shyam Bhakta Shrestha, said that the Telecommunications Office in Hetauda made no responses to their repeated requests for the repair of the telephones.

When asked, Jaya Prakash Nayak, Chief of the branch office of the Nepal Telecommunications Corporation, said that there was technical snag on the antenna of the Simbhnajyang-based tower. He said it would take some days to repair the defunct antenna.