Govt to hike Power tariff by 5pc annually

By Shree Ram Subedi

KATHMANDU, May 9 - The government has decided to increase the price of electricity by maximum of 5 per cent annually, a government notice says.

The notification that appeared on the gazette published on Monday will allow the concerned authorities to hike the price on a semi automatic tariff adjustment (SATA) basis tied with the consumer price index (CPI) of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the central bank.

To this effect, the government has already amended the Rule 6 of the Electricity Tariff Fixation Regulation - 2050, according to a notice published in the gazette.

Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), the state-owned monopoly, has already sent price revision proposal to Electricity Tariff Fixation Commission (ETFC). It plans to increase the revenue and hopes to curb rampant power leakage.

The proposal is based upon the gradual increase of per unit price of electricity, with the increase of the capacity of ampere meter installed in each households and firms.

"Once the proposal is approved by the commission, then the annoucement of price hike will come," said Sharada Prasad Sharma, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR), adding that the final decision would be made by the Commission.

"The new move will make NEA more sustainable and increase its self financing ratio," he added. Officials at the ministry accepted that the increment is based upon the conditions put forward by donor agencies.

"These new development will pave the way for loan effectiveness committed by Asian Development Bank (ADB) and other donor agencies which have asked to review the price structure for long " added a highly placed official at NEA.

The ADB had agreed to provide US $ 50 millions for the 8th power project in June last year but has postponed the date of loan disbursement by 3 months just a week ago mainly because of the government’s delay to take decision on the price structure.

The conditions of the agreement were to maintain NEA’s self-financing ratio (SFR) at 23 per cent and Rate of Return (ROR) at 6 per cent. NEA’s SFR and R0R , presently, stand at 11 and 4.38 per cent respectively.

"This will certainly hit the consumer hard’ says Sharma adding that there was no alternatives left on this regard.

The government had hiked the electricity price by 27 per cent per unit in an average on November 1999.Electricity price has been hiked by 270 per cent in the past 10 years in Nepal.

Only 16 per cent of nation’s households have access to electricity at the moment.

concern over workers' threatened agitation

KATHMANDU, May 9 (PR) - Local politicians and businessmen, along with representatives of trade organizations, from Makwanpur district today apprised the Federation of Nepali Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) of the potential impact , due to threatened agitation by former workers of Hetauda Textile Industry,upon the same.

Former workers of the textile industry that lies in the Hetauda Industrial Estate, had threatened to close down all industries within the estate for three days following which they would halt all transportation on the national highway if their demands are not met before May 15.

The government had laid off all the workers of the industry, which was closed down last February, promising to pay the due salaries and allowances of the workers. However, the workers, mostly women out of the thousand plus, are yet to get about Rs 120 millions out of the total Rs 250 millions. It was the first time that the government laid off all employees of a state-owned enterprise before pushing for privatization.

According to a press release issued here today by FNCCI, the delegates to the FNCCI consisted of members from the Makwanpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), Makwanpur District Development Committee (MDDC) and Narayanui Transport Entrepreneurs Association (NTEA), among some local politicians and members of trade unions.

On the occasion, President of the FNCCI, Pradip Kumar Shrestha said that when Nepal is importing textiles and clothing from abroad, the government should have investigated into the cause of the industry’s problems, rather than closing it down. The Hetauda Textile Industry had been remained facing financial problems for the past four years, the release states.

Furthermore, Shrestha said that the government must implement its decisions on time. The root cause of the impending agitation by the former workers of the industry is due to the government’s laxness in clearing the dues.

Moreover, in the context of the present efforts being made to pressurize the government for announcing Makwanpur as an Industrial district, in addition to the demands of initiating an Export Processing Zone in Hetauda, Shrestha said that the strike can damper the overall process, the release concludes.

HAN delegation meets Indian Ambassador

Post report

KATHMANDU, May 9 - A delegation of Hotel Association Nepal (HAN) led by president Narendra Bajracharya today met the Indian Ambassador to Nepal Dev Mukherjee and apprised him about the various problems of the tourism industry, states a press release issued here today.

On the occasion, the delegation urged to simplify the present requirement of various documents for Indian citizens wishing to travel to Nepal and solicited to honor ration card, driving license, student identity card or any other card issued by the concerned authorities as a document of identification.

The delegation also requested to take necessary measures to facilitate private Indian carrier to fly over Nepal and India, the release says.

Ambassador Mukherjee on the occasion assured the delegation to positively look into the matters.

CAN for IT budget allocation

By Vijaya Babu Khatri

KATMANDU, May 9 - Computer Association of Nepal (CAN) has submitted a proposal for budget allocation for three years for the development of (IT), with a view to expedite the programs as envisaged in the lately brought out information technology (IT) Policy 2000.

It has proposed an approximate budget of Rs 1.15 billion including the amount required for building infrastructures, institutional development and annual expenditure.

The proposal has suggested to produce 50,000 manpower for various capacities in core IT industries and IT-enabled services targetting both the domestic and international market.

One of the major and significant recommendations made by the Association is to establish a Technology Business Incubator for IT industry. It has also advised the government to enforce the use of IT in financial institutions and government offices for the purpose of good governance and transparency.

In order to produce specialists in different fields, it has proposed to set up a Centre of Excellence for higher education in IT, modeled after the Institute of Information Technology (IIT) of India. Exemption of tax on IT industries for five years and to declare IT as a service industry are other valuable recommendations of CAN.

The Association has also suggested to offer special financial packages to entrepreneurs including the non-resident Nepalis (NRNs) to help them set up educational enterprises and urged the government to instruct banks and financial institutions to float special bonds like ‘Edu-cash’.

In order to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) to the IT sector, CAN has made suggestions to carry out promotional activities in different countries in coordination with the diplomatic missions abroad and to remove ceiling on investment made in human resource development (HRD) institutions and companies.

CAN has also recommended to allow multinational IT HRD companies to open similar companies in Nepal on condition of reinvest 25 per cent of their revenue generated in Nepal. Besides, it has suggested to develop selected campuses as Centres of Excellence and to produce skilled manpower in a large scale.

To encourage all IT companies in the country to set aside five per cent of their value added revenue, to support IT education in the form of scholarships and research grants is one of the recommendations. The Association has also suggested the government to actively involve professional bodies like CAN, NEA, SECEN, NIUG, ITPF, CESON etc. and employers associations like FNCCI, HAN, TAAN, NATA in promoting and maintaining ethics and standards and output of HRD institutions.

Protest against APL’s involvement in logistic support

Post Report

KATHMANDU, May 9 - Nepal Freight Forwarders Association (NEFFA) has expressed serious objection over involvement of American President Line India Pvt Ltd. (APL) in logistic support from Nepal.

According to a press release issued by the association here today, since the APL is associated with shipping liner and is responsible only for transporting goods through over the ocean, it is condemnable and against international practice to involve in the logistic forwarding business.

The APL has lately begun to directly procure exportable items from manufacturers, the release says. Prior to the APL’s involvement, only NEFFA members were carrying out the business.

NEFFA has protested against the APL’s over its involvement in freight forwarding and even sent a letter to this effect recently. The company, in the name of providing logistic support, has caused the current forwarding rates to fluctuate, the release concludes.

Ghalegaun: A rising tourist centre

By Prabhakar Sharma

GHALEGAUN, Lamjung, May 9 - Nestled in the laps of Mt. Lamjung, Ghalegaun is some eight hours trek from the district headquarters Beshisahar.The village appears to be in geographical isolation of sorts but that is the one big reason the place is being developed as a tourist village.

Mesmerizing beauty of the surrounding hills compounded by the rich Gurung culture have propped this village in the country’s mid hills as a promising tourist destination.

The village forms an important stop in the Annapurna-circuit-trek.. Villages in the nation specially in the Western Nepal, such as Sirubari in Syangja and Ghandruk in Kaski, have suddenly woken up to the opportunities such endeavors could bring to them.

The 95 odd households of this village are a storehouse of affectionate, hospitality and homeliness. Moreover, thirteen houses are being developed as ‘hotels’ where tourists are lodged in a rotary basis. Moreover numerous restaurants and eateries have been set up that cater to the needs of tourists trekking to the village. The villagers are making one big effort in setting up a tourist village par excellence.

Education may have been a scarce commodity here, but that does not bar the village from being spankily clean. The villagers are well aware of the opportunities tourism could bring their way. They have been making a conscious effort to maintain the place’s pristine beauty. Chemical fertilizers and pesticides make way for organic manure. Locally grown products are used whenever possible. The villagers use local resources as far as possible.

The village is one that reflects the Gurung heritage at its best. It had, in fact, been the major site of the Ghale kings some five centuries ago, before it fell to Prithvi Narayan Shah’s national unification campaign. It is also taken as the site of origin of the Lamas, traditionally high class Gurungs. They often organize traditional dances and festivities with marked enthusiasm. The celebrations highlight indigenous Gurung culture. Ghatu, Serga, Krishna Charitra, Chutka, Ghabri Jhangri dance are the ‘turkish delights’. Stunning local handicrafts are also a major attraction to the tourists.

Attempts are being made to promote the village as a prime tourist destination. The recently marked ‘Ghalegaun Tourist Festival’ jointly organized by the ACAP, Hotel Himal Chuli and Uttar Kanya VDC was was one such attempt. Local leaders opined how promoting the village as a tourist destination could go a long way in uplifting the village as a whole. Should the efforts of the villagers pay it may not be long before the village appears a hot tourist destination in the country.