OFF THE RECORD (Spotlight Weekly)

‘Tourists Will Help Preserve Heritage’

— PREM SUWAL

Mayor of Bhaktapur Municipality PREM SUWAL is confident that tourist flow will continue to grow even after the city raised entry fees. Suwal spoke to SPOTLIGHT on the controversy regarding the entry-fee hike. Excerpts:

After the increase in entry fees, it is said that the number of tourists visiting Bhaktapur has declined. Is this true?

Tourist flow as a whole has witnessed a drastic fall in the last few months because of some known reasons. Bhaktapur is not an exception. Frankly speaking, in the case of Bhaktapur, you can't blame the increase in entry fees for the fall.

How do you justify the fee increase, especially when all tourism entrepreneurs have opposed it?

I don't understand why people are making such a noise over the issue, as if the fees are being charged to them. We are taking some money as service charge from tourists to keep the city clean and to preserve its historical monuments. If we offer good service, what is wrong in raising the fees? I don't think any tourist would refuse to pay $10 to visit Bhaktapur.

If other municipalities follow your path, would it be possible for tourists to pay their way everywhere?

If other municipalities maintain the area properly, I don't think tourists would find it difficult to contribute to the preservation of ancient heritage.

It is said that the municipality increased the fees without consulting tourism entrepreneurs.

We invited all concerned entrepreneurs for discussions before increasing the fees. Unfortunately, no one responded.

Mind Khanal's Shoes

At a time when political leaders were in a rush to catch their vehicles during the Pokhara jamboree, CPN-UML leader comrade Jhalnath Khanal was busy searching for his shoes. Intentionally or otherwise, someone took away Khanal's shining shoes and replaced them with an older dusty pair. Comrade Khanal's worry was understandable, because he lost part of his valuable collection. According to Khanal, he got the shoes as a gift during his visit to United States.

Sujata Vows Vengeance

Watch out Prakash Koirala, Sailaja Acharya, Chakra Prasad Bastola and Bhakta Bahadur Balayar. The only daughter of the country's prime minister has vowed to take revenge for their audacity to oppose her candidacy for membership of the Congress Central Working Committee, which ultimately ended in her disqualification. Sujata, who returned to her motherland in 1993 after her father became prime minister, thinks -- and why shouldn't she -- that she has a natural claim to sit on the CWC. Rules be damned. They are made to be flouted. If the party cannot bend them for Sujata, who even divorced her German husband to be with papa dear, she has every right to take revenge. Watch out, all you sinners.

Celluloid Success

Tulsi Ghimire's 'Darpan Chaya' has set records in the Nepalese film industry. It has made phenomenal profits and drawn unprecedented crowds during the more than eight weeks it has been running in the valley. At a time when there is a feverish race among Nepalese film producers to bring out big-budget films, Ghimire has shown that massive cash infusions are not a prerequisite to a film's success. Lesson: A good story line backed by directorial creativity can work wonders.

Relative Edge

Not all directors are as fortunate as Ghimire when it comes to important departments of filmmaking. A brother-in-law of acclaimed music director Ranjit Gajmere, Ghimire can rely on the pull of lilting numbers and compelling background scores. From a former student like Nirupa Singh, Ghimire can expect that additional commitment to excel. For quite a while, our producers, following their Indian counterparts, have been guided by the principle that a film cannot be complete without gangs of baddies who kick and punch their way around at regular intervals. Will the

success o0f 'Darpan Chaya' encourage others in our film industry to change their violent ways?