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Kathmandu Monday May 14, 2001 Jestha 01, 2058.
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Businessmen plead to call off bandh
Post Report
KATHMANDU, May 13 - Businessmen and entrepreneurs have
requested the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist and Leninist (CPN-UML) not to stage
Nepal bandh (general strike), to make efforts to amend the Labour Act and to create an
environment conducive to investment.
The participants at an interaction on pre-budget agenda,
organized by the Central Planning and Monitoring Department of the CPN-UML at its party
office, expressed their views here Sunday.
Pradeep Kumar Shrestha, President of Federation of Nepalese
Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), requested the Party not to call bandh as it
blows hard to the industrial sector.
Rajesh Kaji Shrestha, President of Nepal Chamber of Commerce
(NCC) echoing the FNCCI chief suggested to go for a symbolic bandh or to find its
alternative for their protest program. "If one has the right to call bandh, we also
have the right to open our business, but who listens to our voice?" questioned
Shrestha.
Tourism entrepreneur Shyam Bahadur Pandey warned that the
announced bandh will further worsen the tourism industry.
The participants were referring to the call for 3-day Nepal
bandh starting May 27 as announced by the CPN-UML along other five left parties as a part
of their protest program demanding resignation of the prime minister.
However, CPN-UML General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal said
that they have called the bandh out of compulsion. "We also don’t want toclose
down the entire nation for three days, but it is our compulsion. You just remove a person
from power, there will be new horizon of opportunity," he said without referring the
name of the prime minister.
Most of the entrepreneurs blamed all the political parties
for their failure to create an environment conducive to investment due to a lack of clear
policies regarding investment. "Therefore, the UML should make effort to favourable
environment for investment in the forthcoming budget," said the FNCCI chief.
First Vice-President of FNCCI Ravi Bhakta Shrestha said that
investors are not in a condition to invest in a deteriorating law and order situation.
Jagadish Lal Agrawal of Revenue Committee of the FNCCI, said
that demand for consumer goods is declining in the market, new investments are not coming
and the existing industries are ailing.
Entrepreneurs also suggested all political parties to
unanimously raise economic agenda in the parliament, instead of concentrating only on
political issues.
Former FNCCI Chief Mahesh Lal Agrawal went to the extent of
saying that if the economic agenda are overshadowed by the political ones, one day
businessmen will be compelled to open their own party.
Speaking on the same occasion, entrepreneur Rajendra Kumar
Khetan said that employees are troubling the industrialists and suggested to give the
employers rights to hire and fire employees who employ certain number of workers.
The participants also suggested to include the agenda of
financial sector reform, reform in tax administration and controlling corruption in the
forthcoming budget.
Former Finance Minister Bharat Mohan Adhikari said that it is
high time we evaluated the past performances. "We have made some mistakes in the past
and we should correct them," he added.
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