EDITOR'S NOTE
On the way back home after a brief sojourn to
the United States, this scribe is very disappointed to recall how far behind our country
lags from the rest of the world. All of us need to work at least 18 hours a day to
transform one of the poorest countries of the world into a developed one. Unfortunately,
our parliament remains in deadlock for more than one and half months. The shameless,
corrupt politicians continue to prolong the House only to draw their salary. We strongly
urge that the House be prorogued immediately and no allowances be disbursed to the
legislators for they have done nothing for the country and their poor countrymen during
this period. We would also like to advise the opposition leaders to go to the people and
seek fresh mandate if they are convinced that this parliament can't solve the country's
problems. As we can't hope much from the constitutional monarch, only people can punish a
corrupt government like this led by G. P. Koirala.
* * *
Nepal may be poor in terms of development,
but nature has bestowed on her enough resources to become a rich nation. The Water
Resources Strategy Formulation workshop going on in Kathmandu, I suppose, is focusing on
harnessing the country's rich natural resource for the benefit of our poor people. We must
not forget that all of our political leaders, whether during Panchayat era or in the
multiparty democracy, have never tired of highlighting the potentials offered by this
resource. Some of them even went on to say that the "Sun will rise from the
west" if this resource was utilized properly. People have no basis to believe them as
we have seen that all the corrupt governments of the past have seen this resource as a
means to fulfill their vested interests. There have been no genuine efforts to tap this
potential by mobilizing international support for the benefit of the country. Only 15
percent of the population has access to electricity and the reach of irrigation is also
limited. So, instead of talking about making Nepal rich by selling power to the monopoly
buyer in the South, our policymakers should talk about developing small hydropower,
community-managed irrigation systems and drinking water projects which we can develop and
sustain on our own. The poor Nepalese people have remained cheated for long. Please don't
sell any more empty dreams to us.
| Chief-Editor & Publisher |
: Madhav Kumar Rimal |
| Editor |
: Sarita Rimal |
| Consulting Editor |
: Keshab Poudel |
| Senior Correspondent |
: Bhagirath Yogi |
| Senior Reporter |
: Navin Singh Khadka |
| Reporter |
: Sanjaya Dhakal / Sunil Kumar
Gupta(Nepalgunj) |
| Photographer |
: Shyam Chitrakar |
| Editorial Office |
: GPO Box 7256,Baluwatar,Kathmandu, Nepal. |
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