Let House Run Smooth

THE on-going disruption of parliament is simply unacceptable. Despite repeated efforts, the House of Representatives has failed to sit for a single day this Winter Session. The reason for this is that the Opposition parties, headed by the CPN (UML), wants Prime Minister Gririja Prasad Koirala to resign first for the cabinet’s decision to lease an aircraft from Lauda Air allegedly without following proper norms. The aircraft landed in Kathmandu on December 1 last year and is already flying on various routes. The Prime Minister on Friday, while talking to journalists at his hometown, however, clarified that he would not remain in the Prime Minister’s chair for a minute if he is implicated in the Lauda Air lease scandal. The case is being investigated by the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), and the case is currently in the court. The Prime Minister, quite pragmatically made it clear that forcing him to relinquish his Prime Minister’s post by disrupting the parliament and taking to the streets would not be the correct thing to do. He said he was determined to clarify himself in Parliament, not once but even 10 times, if only the House would sit. The Winter Session is crucial as a number of important bills such as Women’s Property Rights are to be discussed. If the Opposition parties do want the resignation of the Prime Minister, then it should come through the proper channel. The Sadbhavana Party is right in saying that the resignation should come through a no-confidence motion in the Parliament. Demanding the resignation of a Prime Minister of a duly elected party by taking to the streets is not in keeping with parliamentary norms. The Opposition should also understand that should they come to power, they would also be facing the same behavior from the party that is in the opposition. Given the present state of affairs, there are already rumours of a mid-term election. The Prime Minister on Friday hinted that it was a possibility if necessary, but he was totally against it. And given the huge expenses involved that could be used for better purposes, the man in the street is totally against such a development. And in the wake of the growing Maoist insurgency and insecurity in the districts, the political parties know contesting an election at this period is highly challenging. Hence, the best possible way out of the current crisis is to thrash out a solution in parliament that is acceptable to all the parties.

Road Networks

MINISTER for Physical Planning and Works Mahanta Thakur and Ambassador of Japan to Nepal Mitsuaki Kojima jointly inaugurated the Dhulikhel-Nepalthok section of the Banepa-Bardibas Road project the other day. The government of Japan has provided assistance for the construction of the Banepa-Bardibas Road. The completed section of the road has been handed over to His Majesty’s Government and traffic has been opened in that section. The rest of section of the road is also to be completed within the stipulated time frame for which works is underway swiftly. One of the major impediments of Nepal’s development is its difficult topographic condition, which makes transportation from one place to another a difficult task. There are several places in the country, which are still not linked by road. Even areas, which are linked by road, seem to be pretty cut off due to the lack of proper networking. Now the capital of the country has to depend on a single road-East-West Highway for the link with the rest of the country. If that is blocked by any reason, the capital would be cut off from the rest of the country. It has happened several times in the past, especially during the monsoon season. An alternative road had long been felt necessary to link Kathmandu with the other parts of the country. In view of this need, the decision to construct the Banepa-Bardibas road was taken and the Japanese government also agreed to provide assistance in this project. Moreover, the Banepa-Bardibas road is shorter and easier, which would lessen the transporters’ woes to a large extent.

Development and expansion of the transport sector plays an important role in the country’s development. Until and unless transport facilities are expanded to every corner of the country, the general people would not be able to realise the benefits of development activities. Development of transport sector and expansion of road network throughout the country is, thus, one of the priority sectors of His Majesty’s Government for the overall development of the nation and to enable the people from different parts of the country to enjoy the fruit of development activities. Road transport is the most important sub-sector even in the overall transport sector in Nepal. Given the difficult terrain, construction of roads in Nepal is difficult as well as costly. However, the government has been committed to connect all districts headquarters with road links in the next couple of years. Banepa Bardibas Road is also part of the government’s overall programme of connecting different parts of the country by road link so that people will enjoy easier movements and a more direct access to market for their products.