US-Iraq war creates fear of petroleum shortage
NOC says it has enough stock

By Milan Mani Sharma

KATHMANDU, March 20 : Following the US attack on Iraq, the fear of petroleum crisis gripped the capital today as a large number of consumers queued up for hours to buy kerosene and petrol. The fear of shortage during the war period has been attributed to creating the panic.

"The total demand of kerosene and petrol in the capital soared by some 40 per cent today, while Nepal Oil Corporation’s (NOC) supply stood nowhere near to fulfill the demand," said Saroj Pandey, President of Nepal Petroleum Dealers Association (NPDA).

The NOC’s supply of kerosene and petrol today was maintained at its regular level of 3,500 kilolitres and 180 kilolitres respectively. On any normal day, this would have fulfilled the demand for nearly two days, but not today, added Pandey.

He claimed that the capital-based dealers sold a total of 3,750 kilolitres of kerosene and 225 kilolitres of petrol on Thursday. "All dealers finished their stock as well to maintain the supply," he said.

To contain the increased demand, petroleum dealers restricted per person supply to 10 litres. But still, the consumers were seen returning empty-handed from various dealers in Kalimati, Ratnapark and Bagbazaar, among others.

Consumers’ rush in fact had commenced from yesterday, according to Shyam Kumar Karki, an accountant of a petrol pump in Bagbazaar. "It worsened today after the US actually started attacks on Iraq," he said, adding that the consumers are panicky due largely to the fear that US-Iraq war might affect the supply and price. Even the NOC officials conceded to it.

Shiva Prasad Gautam of Ason, who had to be in a queue for an hour with his son and niece to buy 20 litres of kerosene, said, "Attack on the oil supplying country might result in a short-supply of the product. Hence, I secured a month’s requirement today."

Few consumers including Ram Bahadur Thapa of Bagbazaar attributed the fear of price rise in the wake of US-Iraq war to the latest panic. Meanwhile, the demand of diesel was not affected at all.

"The panic is concentrated on the capital only. Hence, no effect on diesel," said Pandey, adding that the situation might change if the panic extends beyond the valley. Speaking on the NOC supply, he argued that the NOC must enhance its capacity to speed up the supply level to avoid further crisis.

The NOC officials, meanwhile, expressed surprise over the havoc seen in the market. "People are panicky for nothing. The NOC is receiving the fuel regularly from India and has enough buffer stock to fulfill the national demand for about a month," said Rudra Bahadur Khadka, acting managing director of the NOC.

According to sources, the NOC currently has 60,000 kilolitres of petroleum stock. Its storage capacity is 68,000 kilolitres. Khadka further said that the Indian Oil Corporation has committed to maintain smooth supply to Nepal. "Nepal does not buy oil from Gulf countries, but India. People need not worry for the supply," he added.

Lack of seeds likely to pull down summer paddy yield

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DHARAN, March 20 : The summer paddy cultivation in Sunsari may be adversely affected this year as the Nepal Seed Company and other institutions responsible for seed distribution have been unable to supply enough seeds to the farmers in time.

Encouraged by the construction of a canal by the Sunsari-Morang Irrigation Project, farmers here had been hoping to cultivate maximum amount of paddy from minimum land owing to irrigation facility. But there has been no seed distribution for the last two weeks.

A large number of farmers can bee seen queuing up at the District Agriculture Development Office (DADO) demanding more seeds, but the DADO is helpless because the institutions responsible for seed distribution have no seed at all.

Thousands of farmers from more than 18 Village Development Committees are planning to plant various improved seeds like Bindeswori and CH-45 that were developed by Nepali research facilities, but the they have not got enough seeds in time. It is certainly going to pull down the total paddy production this year.

According to the DADO Chief Hem Sagar Gautam, the farmers of Sunsari district alone have been cultivating summer paddy in 5,500 hectares of land and harvesting 15 tons of paddy annually on average.

Training deferred indefinitely

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SARLAHI, March 20 : Ninety youths of Sarlahi, Mahottari and Dhanusha are in utter confusion as there are no signs of commencing a six-month long training in machine operation despite two months have passed since their selection for the purpose.

The Cottage and Small Industry Office (CSI) had selected them for the training two months ago.

According to an agreement reached between the CSI Office and the Janakpur Cigarette Factory Limited (JCF), the Cigarette Factory was supposed to train the youths in machine operation.

However, according to the source, the officials of the Cigarette Factory have been dilly-dallying in providing the training to them by repeatedly postponing it. "The programme has finally been suspended for an indefinite period now," the source said.

The CSI Offices of the three districts were to jointly bear the costs of the training and would also provide each trainee with a daily allowance of Rs. 40 for six months. The factory had been decided as the venue for the training.

The JCF has been turning a deaf ear to the repeated appeals for an immediate commencement of the training made by the three CSI Offices. Although the candidates for the training were selected by the CSIs, officials from the factory were also present during the interviews.

Heet Bahadur Raikamagar, one of the selected youths, said he had already given JFC Rs. 15 and 2 passport sized photographs for the programme. "I have been coming here for many times to inquire about the beginning of the training and I have spent almost Rs 1,000 in it," he added.

CSI chief Krishna Bahadur Karki said that he has been trying to begin the training but in vain.

10 state enterprises yet to submit final statement

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KATHMANDU, March 20 : Almost a dozen enterprises have failed to submit their final statement’s up to the last fiscal year to the government, despite the governments attempt to maintain updated financial status of all public entities within the time specified by their respective Acts and regulations.

According to a high-level government official, of the total 37 state-owned enterprises (SOEs) with government’s absolute investment, just 13 have finished up-to-date final audits of their final statements from the Auditor General’s Office.

Of the remaining, 14 entities have undergone preliminary audits up to the last fiscal year, and 10 have backlog auditing for one or more years. The statistics, despite reflecting relatively weaker auditing preference, is an improved one compared to the last fiscal year.

During the previous fiscal year, a total of 14 public enterprises had failed to complete the final auditing. While 12 had finished the final audits, 11 public enterprises had completed preliminary audits of their final statements.

The existing Acts and regulations say the corporations and other financial institutions have to complete the final auditing within the second six months of every fiscal year. The duration can be extended for a maximum of three months with special decision from the Board of Directors.

According to the source the corporations that have not submitted their final audits are Udayapur Cement Factory (due for last five years), Birgunj Sugar Factory (two years audit due), Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation (two years audit due) and Hetauda Textiles Factory (four years audit due).

Similarly, the Nepal Transportation Corporation, Timber Corporation of Nepal, Bhaktapur Bricks and Tiles Factory, Agricultural Inputs, Agricultural Tools, Nepal Resin and Turpentine are the other SOEs that have not completed their final audits.

The government had been asking all SOEs to complete their auditing in specified time for long. But the SOEs have not abided by the government directions. Experts say that the government’s failure to take strong action against the defaulters has led to the situation.

Despite the government’s announcement of last year’s budget to take stringent actions against the chiefs and financial officials of SOEs failing to complete their final auditing in time, the government hardly punished any officials. The finance ministry had even prepared the list of 19 heads of several SOEs to be punished. Also, after the formation of the new government last September, the new finance minister had asked all the SOEs to complete their updated financial statements as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, the corporations that have completed their final audits for the last fiscal year are Nepal Food Corporation, Nepal Electricity Authority, Nepal Telecommunications Authority, Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, Dairy Development Corporation, Agro-Limestone Industry and Lumbini Sugar Factory. Nepal Rastra Bank, Citizens Investment Fund, Sanskritik Sansthan, Rastriya Samachar Samiti, Janak Sikshya Samagri Limited and Nepal Drinking Water Supply Corporation have also submitted the final audits.

The corporations submitting preliminary audits are Rastriya Banijya Bank, National Trading Limited, Nepal Transport and Warehouse Company Limited, Nepal Telecommunications Corporation, Nepal Television and National Construction Company of Nepal. Likewise, Hetauda Cement, Janakpur Cigarette factory, Royal Drugs, Tobacco Development Corporation, Herbs Productions and Processing, Industrial Enterprises Development, Gorkhapatra Sansthan and Rural Housing Company have also submitted the preliminary audits.

Road Show to promote intra-regional tourism

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KATHMANDU, March 20 : Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) and India Tourism - Kolkata are jointly organising a three-day India Tourism Road Show in the NTB premises from today with an objective of promoting intra-regional tourism between Nepal and India.

According to the organisers, seven major hotels and five major travel and tour operators from Kolkata are participating in the Road Show, which would be a platform for the tour operators of both countries to interact for mutual benefits through regional tourism.

Inaugurating the Road Show, Assistant Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Ravi Bhakta Shrestha expressed hope that such programmes would go a long way in attracting tourists from both countries that share similar culture and religion.

He stressed upon the need to formulate joint marketing strategies for both countries and pointed out the need for mutual cooperation between the tourism institutions of the two nations.

Deputy Chief of Missions of the Indian Embassy to Nepal, Ashok Kumar says much remains to be done to promote internal, external and regional tourism in countries like Nepal and India, and called for an expansion in cooperation. "I hope to see travel literatures and mutual tour packages in offices of tour operators both in India and Nepal," he said.

During the programme, Regional Director of India Tourism-Kolkata M.K. Lakhanpal read out a message from union minister for tourism Jagmohan. "The usual tourist season is from October to March, but we are coming up with winter packages for the Nepalis who usually have holidays in those seasons," he said.

Nepali tourists rank 13th in terms of arrivals in India. According to the Indian statistics, the number of Nepali visitors had increased from 41,000 to 60,000 in 2002. Meanwhile,

a total of 3,231 Nepali tourists arrived in Kolkata via air, making up 5.26 per cent of the total tourist arrival in 2002. The arrivals make Nepalis the 5th highest.

Meanwhile, NTB’s Honorary PRR for India, R.H. Kampani informed that Indian Airlines is planning to start its third Kolkata-Kathmandu-Kolkata flight from march 28th. According to him, the additional flights is expected to operate on Fridays and fly back only on Sundays, the main target being the weekend Kolkata holidaymakers.

Tek Bahadur Dangi, Chief Executive Officer of the NTB was also present on the occasion.