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Friday, September 23, 2011

TOP MAOIST LEADER MINIMIZES PARTY DIFFERENCE; MOVE TO POSTPONE CENTRAL COMMITTEE MEET

MAOIST LEADER MINIMIZES IN PARTY
Kathmandu, 24 Sept.: As differences escalate in UCPN (Maoist) on a decision by Chairman Prachanda and Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai factions to handover keys to surrender containers with Maoist weapons, a top leader said the party leading the government won’t split.
Krishna Bahadur Mahara, a senior leader and former deputy prime minister in the previous government, also dismissed the intra-party differences as minor.
He was speaking at a programme in the capital Saturday.
Chairman Prachanda and First Vice-chairman Mohan Baidya attempted to patch up differences Friday in their first meeting after a revolt against the party to handover keys to containers with insurgency-erawapons to a lgovernment headed ex-officio by the prime minister.
Prachanda asked Biadya not to bring differences in public amid calls from a section in UCPN (Maoist) for anti-party activities.
Baidya faction is demanding self-criticism short of retracting a decision on the weapons handover before concluding the peace process.
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MOVES IN UCPN (MAOIST) TO POSTPOSE SCHEDULED CENTRAL COMMITTEE MEET AMID MOUNTING DIFFERENCES
Kathmandu, Sept. 24.: The rift within the UCPN (Maoist) is likely to stay for a while, clouding with uncertainty the government's 45-day plan to complete the fundamentals of the peace process, Kamal Dev Bhattari writes in The Kathmandu Post.
Party Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Friday proposed holding the crucial Central Committee meeting--that is scheduled to be held on Sept 30--only after the Dashain festival as he failed to cajole the miffed Mohan Baidya faction into supporting his peace mission. The CC meeting was expected to take a call on the contentions of the peace process, including the Baidya faction's demands.
According to leaders, Dahal has concluded that the CC meeting that is scheduled to be held after a week can neither unite the party nor split it, but indecision will prevail in the party.
Earlier, the CC meet that was to be held on September 19 was postponed as Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai had to leave for New York to attend the 66th General Assembly of the United Nations.
Politburo member Haribol Gajurel said it is meaningless to hold the meet on September 30 as well, as the country would be in a festive mood. Non-Maoist parties are calling on the Maoists to solve the internal dispute to take the peace and constitution writing processes ahead.
In the meeting with Baidya at his residence at Nayabazar, Dahal proposed postponing the meet to carry out more homework to manage the rift.
In response, Baidya said he will decide on this after holding consultations with his supporters.
Dahal said the CC will meet only after top leaders reach an understanding on managing the rift.
Dahal also sought clarification from Baidya on the latter's nationwide gathering and allegations against the government and the party leadership. The Baidya faction had held a national-level gathering of its supporters on Wednesday. In response, Baidya said the gathering was just a "training" programme and that he has not violated the party's norms and discipline.
The Maoists' 45-day plan to accomplish the peace process has been hampered due to strong objection from the Baidya faction on the issue of the handover to keys of arms containers and other issues of integration. The intra-party rift has become more serious after the Baidya camp spoke against the government in Parliament.
In the meeting with Nepali Congress (NC) President Sushil Koirala, Dahal made it clear that accomplishing the tasks of the peace process within 45 days will not be possible.
The Baidya faction has mounted pressure on the leadership to not take any decision on the integration of combatants before a CC meeting settles the contentious issues. However, leaders from the Dahal faction say that the peace process has been stalled not because of the internal dispute, but due to the stance taken by the NC and the UML.
"NC is unwilling to take bold decisions on concluding the peace process, while the UML is in a state of confusion," Maoist Secretary Post Bahadur Bogati, who is close to Dahal, said. "They (NC and UML) fear that the Maoists will take the credit for completing the peace process," he said.
Meanwhile, the establishment faction has ruled out the possibility of action against the Baidya faction for violating the party's norms and discipline. Leaders say that despite some serious allegations against him, Dahal is in regular contact with the Baidya faction in a bid to solve the problem. "Dahal is not in a mood to take action against Baidya at this point of time because it will not solve the problem," Bogati said. Even leaders from the Bhattarai camp say they cannot take action against the Baidya faction just because they held a separate gathering.
"All factions are holding separate gatherings; we try to accommodate them, but there is not question of taking action," CC member Khagaraj Bhatta, who is close to Bhattarai, said.
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2,606 WAR-DAMAGED STRUCTURES REBUILT


Kathmandu, 24 Sept.: The government has completed reconstruction of 2,606 physical infrastructure that were damaged during the conflict, until fiscal year 2010-11. However, the figure is still less than half of the total number of damaged structures that stands at 5560.
According to the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction, reconstruction of a total of 531 structures, including 81 of the police, are currently underway, Prithvi Man Shrestha reports in The Kathmandu Post.
As of the last fiscal year, 238 school buildings, 602 VDC buildings, 347 district headquarters-based government offices, 306 area-wise government offices and 31 of district development committees, municipalities and district technical offices have been rebuilt. Likewise, 15 suspension bridges, 183 others, 542 equipment and vehicles, 35 memorial parks and model settlements and 107 police posts have been reconstructed. Last year alone, 638 damaged structures were renovated at a cost of Rs 2.59 billion, according to the ministry. The total amount the government spent for the reconstruction until 2010-11 stands at Rs Rs 6.3 billion.
With the government allocating limited budget, the reconstruction process is likely take years to complete. The ministry estimates that it requires at least an additional Rs 21 billion to complete the reconstruction work. “Limited budget from both the government and donor community is the reason behind the slow pace of the reconstruction process,” said Dhruba Prasad Paudyal, head of physical infrastructure and reconstruction section at the ministry. “If the present budget allocation trend continues, it will take two decades for the completion of the reconstruction work.”
Government resources account for a majority portion of the budget spent so far. Of the total expenditure of Rs 6.3 billion spent so far, only Rs 800 million has been spent from the Peace Fund which has high funding of donors.
Although the previous interim plan (FY2007-08-FY2009-10) had given high priority to the reconstruction process, the new interim plan (FY 2010-11-FY 2012-12) has not given as much priority. National Planning Commission (NPC) Vice-Chairman Dipendra Bahadur Kshetry also admitted that the reconstruction of damaged properties during the conflict has been given less priority in the second interim plan. The reconstruction work received relatively less priority in the second plan given growing tendency of seeking huge budget from districts levels in order to construct new structures instead of renovating the damaged ones, according to Kshetry. “Funds were reportedly spent even to make apartments for chief district officers,” he said.
Details of renovated structures as of 2010-11
Infrastructure Number Budget Spent
School buildings 438 545.97m
VDC buildings 602 1.35b
District headquarters-based govt offices 347 1.78b
Area-level govt offices 306 371.24m
DDCs, municipalities 31 211.28m
Suspension bridges 15 13.67m
Others 183 778.97m
Equipment and vehicle repair 542 —
Memorial parks and model villages 35 434.76m
Police offices 107 805.64m
Total 2606 6.30b
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