Major Nepali and English broadsheet dailies published from Kathmandu on Friday have given priority to a host of issues from political, sociocultural and economic spheres.
The government decision to terminate a deal with the Italian contractor CMC for not completing the Melamchi Drinking Water Project on time has received considerable attention. The newspapers also carry reports of a rift between PM KP Oli and NCP co-chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal due to the latter’s view on the crisis in Venezuela.
Here is a summary of important, ignored and interesting stories from the cover pages of national broadsheets:
Important
Government cancels CMC’s contract
The Kathmandu Post, Rajdhani, Karobar, Nagarik, Kantipur and Annapurna Post carry stories related to the government’s decision to terminate its deal with the Italian contractor CMC to complete the Melamchi Drinking Water Project. The termination letter was drafted in the presence of the board officials, Minister for Water Supply Bina Magar, and Secretary Gajendra Kumar Thakur.
Although the two parties communicated with each other about resuming the national pride project, the bid failed. The board even used back-door channels in its bid to bring the CMC back to the project.
A four-member team led by Bhoj Bikram Thapa, the board’s deputy executive director, went to Singapore in a last-ditch effort to convince the Italian builder to complete the project even as the ministry opposed the move initially. The meeting was arranged in a hush-hush manner at the behest of local sub-contractors and agents, according to senior officials at the ministry. The government plans to hand over the project to Nepali contractors.
Venezuela testing Oli-Dahal relationship
Kantipur, Annapurna Post, Rajdhani, The Himalayan Times and The Kathmandu Post report that the statement issued by Pushpa Kamal Dahal, on the ongoing political crisis in Venezuela has soured relations between the two top leaders of the ruling party.
The differences between NCP chairmen Dahal and KP Oli, over the statement on Venezuela, surfaced when the two chose to criticise each other publicly. Prime Minister Oli said on state-owned television on Wednesday evening that there were some “word slips” in Dahal’s statement and that there was no need for him to issue the statement during his absence. Dahal, in response, said that the ‘reaction’ of an individual does not matter much when the party’s secretariat and the government has already released statements in the same spirit.
NCP unification in limbo after arguments within the task force
Kantipur and Naya Patrika report that Nepal Communist Party (NCP) leaders continue to remain divided over plans to dissolve a high-level unification taskforce after it failed to finalise the merger of lower committees and sister wings within the given deadline.
Three weeks past the deadline, the task force has only been able to do a fraction of the given task due to disagreements among its members, mainly due to factional wrangling over stakes in the unification process. The proposal to adopt ‘one person, one position’ policy in the party was another reason for the delays, leaders said.
NCP leaders also add that senior leader Madhav Nepal’s demand to reconstitute the party’s provincial committees and lower committees was also causing delays in the unification of the lower-rung committees.
Ignored
Government to seek tax from Ncell after SC submits its report
Kantipur reports that the Finance Ministry has said that the government would demand capital gains tax from telecom company Ncell after getting a detailed report from the Supreme Court on its verdict on Wednesday the hi-profile case. Finance Minister Yuba Raj Khatiwada said that the ministry would calculate how much tax Ncell owes and then ask them to pay the amount. The SC on Wednesday asked Ncell and its parent company Axiata to pay capital gains tax. However, the court hasn’t decided when the company needs to deposit the amount and how much money Ncell owes to the government.
Irregularity found in Poverty Alleviation Fund Nepal
Rajdhani reports that the National Vigilance Centre has found that the Poverty Alleviation Fund Nepal in hiring a consultant from the World Bank has been involved in financial irregularities worth Rs 40 million. The fund, going against the laws, offered a contract to the consultant worth Rs 37 million and has also been handing out funds to its sub-agencies even though no work has been done.
Interesting
Government urged to bring down remittance fee
The Himalayan Times reports that a committee led by Secretary at the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security Mahesh Prasad Dahal has submitted its report to labour minister Gokarna Bista concluding that higher charges that migrant workers are being levied while sending their earnings to Nepal is one of the major reasons behind the increasing flow of such money via informal channels like hundi.
The committee has suggested that the government should take necessary steps to reduce remittance service charge in a bid to encourage Nepali migrant workers to choose formal channels (through banks and financial institutions) to send their earnings to the country.
The report adds that migrant workers send money through informal channels because they are charged 4.5 per cent on an average while sending $200 and three per cent on an average while sending $500 to Nepal from major labour destinations.
Tourism Department to auction Nepal Recreation Centre’s land
The Kathmandu Post reports that the Department of Tourism is preparing to issue an auction notice to sell property belonging to defunct casino operator Nepal Recreation Centre and recover monies owed to the government totalling Rs 535 million. The company in liquidation owns around 3.5 ropanis of land and a house at Kalimati.
Nepal Recreation Centre used to operate four casinos all of which have shut down. Dandu Raj Ghimire, director general of the department, said that they were in the final stages of issuing a notice to auction off the land and building of Nepal Recreation Centre.
In June 2011, the government scrapped the operating licence of Nepal Recreation Centre after it failed to pay taxes and royalties owed to the government. Rakesh Wadhwa, the fugitive owner of Nepal Recreation Centre, owes more than Rs 535 million. Casino royalty irregularities have piled up to more than Rs 1 billion.
