Kathmandu, February 20
Minister for Water Supply Bina Magar has accused Secretary Gajendra Thakur, who was transferred to the Nepal Trust Office on Wednesday morning, of demanding bribe from Italian contractor CMC that was working on the Melamchi Drinking Water Project.
Magar’s allegations come a day after Thakur alleged that minister Magar put undue pressure on him to release billions of rupees and equipment worth billions to the controversial Italian contractor that left without completing the project.
The government recently decided to terminate its contract with CMC after company representatives, who had promised to return to work after the New Year, did not show up to complete the remaining 3% of the work.
Minister Magar says that she consulted with Prime Minister Oli before transferring Thakur. She claimed that CMC will now return to Nepal to complete the project as Thakur, who is also the chair of the Melamchi board, has been removed from office.
Minister Magar’s personal secretary Guna Raj Shrestha told Onlinekhabar that CMC told the minister that it would not resume work if it had to pay a ‘commission’ to the secretary. “If we are to return to Melamchi, we will not work with Thakur,” Shrestha quoted a CMC official as saying. According to Shrestha, the government wants CMC to come back and finish the work. It has understood that if CMC leaves, the project cost is going to escalate, and it would take at least three more years for water from Melamchi to come to Kathmandu.
Although the Thakur-led board decided to terminate the contract with CMC, Minister Magar sent a team led by Deputy Director Bhoj Bikram Thapa to negotiate with CMC in Singapore. CMC is learnt to have told the team that Secretary Thakur was demanding a commission.
Meanwhile, Thakur says that the minister is trying to get CMC to return to work by illegal means.
