MOE FEARS CHINA’S THREE GORGES MAY PULLOUT
Kathmandu, 19 March : The Ministry of Energy (MOE) fears that China Three Gorges Corporation (CTGC) will unilaterally pull out of the 750 MW West Seti Project if the parliament does not give clearance within this week, Prem Dhakal reports in Republica..
The MOE is planning to respond Monday to CTGC´s letter, asking the ministry to clarify its position about the project, assuring the Chinese that the project will go ahead.
Joint Secretary Arjun Karki, who had signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Executive Vice-chairman of CTGC Wang Shofeng on February 29, revealed the Chinese had expressws surprise over the parliamentary committee´s instructions to stop all works related to the project.
“They have written that they had readied a team to visit Nepal after signing the MoU and cannot keep its team waiting for long,” Karki revealed. CTGC will conduct technical and financial evaluation of the project to fix the project cost, estimated at around US$ 1.6 billion, in coordination with Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) by the end of May, 2012, as per the tentative schedule.
The CTGC has stated that it has taken West Seti, according to Karki, leaving other projects elsewhere after the Nepali government made the project a national priority and can leave the agreement if Nepal so wishes.
“They said that they had talked with leaders of all major political parties before signing the MoU and expressed surprise at the parliamentary committee´s decision,” he explained.
The Committee on Natural Resources and Means of the parliament on March 9 had formed an 11-member sub-committee to probe the signing of MoU with CTGC without competitive bidding on Feb 29 after revoking the MOE´s working procedure of opting for competitive bidding on the same day. “We will write to them conveying our conviction that the parliamentary committee will ultimately give clearance to the project, but I fear that they may unilaterally pull out if the clearance does not come by the end of this week,” he added.
The probe committee was given 10 days to submit its report to the parliamentary committee and the deadline is set to expire on Wednesday. Karki revealed that the probe committee has written to the ministry seeking clarification in 16 points and the response would be sent soon. The probe committee, on its part, refused to divulge details about the investigations.
“The MOE has been going to the press about this issue and you better ask the ministry,” lawmaker Laxman Ghimire, who is an invited member of the probe committee, quipped when asked about the investigations. “We are trying to maintain dignity in the issue and are conducting investigations without any bias.”
Lawmaker Ghimire assured that the probe committee is trying to complete its investigations within the deadline. “We understand the gravity of the project and don´t want to bear the burden for long,” he stated.
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