LAXMAN THARU CRITICALLY INJURED IN JEEP ACCIDENT - Kathmandu, 10 June: Eight persons were injured Sunday morning, including Chairman of Tharuhat Tarai Party Laxman Tharu, in a jeep accident at Amuliya om the Mahendra Highway on the Banke, Dang border. Tharu,who is critically injured, is unndergoing treatment at . Kohalpur Hospital. nnnn BAD TIMES FOR FOREIGNERS AT DETENTION CENTERS Kathmandu, 10 June: Some foreigners arrested on several charges and kept at the detention centre of Department of Immigration (DoI) have been facing lack of basic facilities, Samik Kharel writes in The Kathmandu Post. Food is one of the pressing problems the detained tourists have to deal with. The centre doesn’t have its own food canteen. Those under police scrutiny have to order food from outside. As a result of this, some of them have to stay hungry if they can’t pay on time. Space crunch is also in the list of their problems. With the number of foreign detainees increasing, authorities are struggling to accommodate all arrestees. Suresh Adhikari, DoI director general, says lack of money to buy food for the detained tourists has been the center’s headache. “There is no food budget. It’s been our major problem as they have to either buy food themselves or get it from friends. Some tourists stay hungry as they claim that they have no money to purchase food,” says Adhikari. “We have been tough time managing food. Sometimes we buy food for them on our own, which is impossible to do regularly. The respective foreign missions also chip in for their food, but they don’t care most of the time.” Adhikari also says the detention centre mostly remains overcrowded. “We can accommodate only 20 detainees. Sometimes it becomes so crowded that we have to send some of them to police custody.” Another pain in the centre’s neck is lack of vehicles to transport the detainees to court and hospital, according to Adhikari. “We have to take many detainees to court within 24 hours and also the sick to hospital. But lack of vehicles to do them a service has troubles us.” Meanwhile, DoI has requested the government to provide budget to buy food and make available other facilities. “The food budget comes to around Rs 3,000 per day. We are hopeful of government support,” said Adhikari. Adding to the problems is lack of interpreters. “The tourists come from diverse backgrounds. We mostly hire interpreters during interrogation. But sometimes it’s difficult to find interpreters of some languages. Mostly the problem has been with Tibetan tourists,” said Adhikari. Around 21 detainees are currently languishing in the center, which can reach 40 sometimes. Tourists with fake passports and documents as well as those arrested for indulging in criminal activities are kept at the center. After interrogation, they are fined in accordance with the law or sent to the police custody if found guilty. Nnnn HUTS FOR BAGMATI RIVER SQUATTERS Kathmandu, 10 June: The government has started construction of bamboo huts for the genuine squatters who were evicted from the Thapathali area a month ago. Bonid Ghimer writes in The Kathmandu Post. . The Department of Urban Development and Building Construction (DUDBC) under the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works (MoPPW) has completed managing land at Sundarighat, Balkhu, to build temporary almshouses. According to Tana Gautam, DUDBC secretary, 48 huts will be built in Balkhu in the initial phase as part of their temporary settlement. The government has released around Rs 2.2 million for this. “Land labelling has been completed and we are planning to complete construction in a week,” said Gautam. Every cottage will have a single room and authorities will also work hard to ensure the basic needs, including toilets and smooth water supply. According Gautam, only the genuine squatters, who have applied for alternative settlement, will be shifted there. The MoPPW in January had asked the DUDBC to register the squatters opting for alternative places. Records at the department show that 1,082 of 8,000 families living along the river banks in the Kathmandu Valley had registered themselves as real squatters, with 67 from the Thapathali area. Earlier, the government had given Rs 15,000 to 58 genuine squatters who were evicted from Thapathali. “The bamboo cottages are being constructed only for temporary settlement and concrete buildings will be built for them,” said Gautam. The DUDBC has been planning to build around 200 concrete buildings for genuine squatters and the government has already bought around 15 ropanies of land at Icchagunarayan for the same purpose. Gautam said each building will have two rooms and one kitchen with verandahs, including toilets and bathrooms. “We hope to complete construction in one year,” Gautam said. The estimated cost of each concrete house is around Rs 600,000. Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai on May 8 had announced to resettle the landless on the premises of Himal Cement Factory in Chovar. However, the plan could not materialise after some local people objected to the move. nnnn