Kathmandu, August 23
Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) lawmaker and mountaineer Mingma Gyabu Sherpa has called for concerted efforts to prevent skilled mountaineers and mountain guides from leaving Nepal for better opportunities abroad.
Speaking at a programme organised in Kathmandu on Sunday to mark the 25th anniversary of the Everest Summiteers Association, Sherpa said the country could face serious challenges in the mountaineering tourism sector if mountain guides are not provided with fair wages and mountaineers are not given proper recognition and respect.
Sherpa said Nepal’s tourism sector is still operating under the Tourism Act enacted in 1978 and that the country has now reached a stage where the law needs to be replaced.
“I am now at a point where we need to change the Tourism Act enacted in 1978. Stakeholders will discuss the Tourism Bill tomorrow,” he said.
He urged mountaineers and their organisations to clearly present their concerns and demands so that their rights and problems can be incorporated into the new legislation.
“If you do not clearly raise your demands for your rights, there will be no justification for remaining in those organisations,” he said.
Sherpa said a parliamentary committee would hold discussions with stakeholders on the Tourism Bill on Monday and urged mountaineers to submit suggestions on how their problems and rights should be addressed through the new law.
He said mountaineers should put forward their concerns without personal interests or political considerations.
“If you present your views independently of personal interests and politics, focusing on the rights of the mountaineering sector and the future of Nepal’s tourism, it will be easier to formulate the law accordingly,” he said.
Sherpa said he remained committed to addressing problems in the sector and expressed concern that Nepal was failing to retain mountaineers despite having abundant mountains and natural resources.
“We have enough mountains naturally, but we have not been able to retain mountaineers. Therefore, policy-level reforms are necessary in the mountaineering sector,” he said.
He warned that failure to work together to protect the rights of mountaineers and prevent skilled professionals from leaving Nepal could create even more serious challenges for the country’s mountaineering and tourism sectors.
