LOCAL NEWS THE RISING NEPAL (DAILY)

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, July 13: Lawmakers at the House of Representatives today demanded the government to give complete solution to Kathmandu’s garbage problem by finding a permanent dumping site.

The garbage problem gave rise to environmental degradation severely affecting tourism, one of the important foreign currency sources of the country, they said adding the government had failed to tackle the problem.

They criticised the government for dumping the garbage on the bank of the Bagmati River despite the Environment Protection Parliamentary Committee decision against it.

Subash Nemwang of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) accused the government of failing to fulfil its commitment to find a permanent landfill site.

"The government has ignored the Environment Protection Parliamentary Committee decision which is as good as a Parliament decision," he said.

Nemwang charged the government of acting against the norms of the new budget, which banned provisional appointment in government offices and state-owned corporations. "I have found some 27 such appointments in various ministries and corporations after Finance Minister Mahesh Acharya presented the budget estimates last month," he said. "There are 18 provisional appointments in the Ministry of Local Development alone that is under Deputy Prime Minister Ram Chandra Paudel."

Another UML lawmaker Ishwar Pokharel said the garbage problem worsened because the government lacked a clear vision for its management.

Hari Acharya of United People’s Front said that the drainage under construction on the banks of the Bagmati was leaking and polluting the holy river. "The government should monitor this and take measures for its management."

UML’s Bidhya Devi Bhandari, Mangal Siddhi Manandhar and Ashta Laxmi Shakya also charged the government of failing to manage the capital’s garbage problem and demanded immediate solution to it.

Similarly, some of the lawmakers expressed their concern over the police action against the protesters who tried to disrupt Miss Nepal 2000 beauty pageant yesterday.

"I condemn the police action against the protesters that included women and elderly persons who wanted to stop the competition that treats women as commodities," Lila Mani Pokharel of National People’s Front said.

In line with Pokharel, UPF’s Navaraj Subedi said that such contests degrade national culture and demanded that the government put ban on such anti-cultural activities.

Other Stories