POKHARA CLOSED DOWN Kathmandu, 19 Aug.: Locals shut down the resort town of Pokhara Sunday protesting a delay in the construction of an international level airport in the western region. The market was closed but some vehicles were plying the streets. In planned further protests, all in coming and outgoing flights will be disrupted later—a move that will directly hit the tourism industry. Nnnn SETLEMENT IN RASUWA TREATEED WITH BLASTING Kathmandu, 19 Aug.: Land at rural settlement in Dandagaun VDC is on the brink of collapse with the reverberation resulting from explosions carried out under the Upper Trishuli 3 A hydropower project, RSS reports from Dhunche in Rasuwa. . The thunder resulted from serial explosions has caused heavy damages to a school and put 28 local households at risk. Teaching and learning has come to a grinding halt at the school after the damage, said Assistant at Dandagaun VDC Ashakaji Gurung. Locals of Chipleti village are not sleeping during the night with a fear that their village might be swept away any time, she said. We are mulling to construct huts in safe place to resume teaching and learning in the school, said School Principal Sadhuram Sapkota. The Upper Trishuli hydropower project with the capacity of 60 Mega Watt is under construction. The explosives detonated in course of constructing the hydropower had triggered landslide at Syafrubesi area last year too. nnnn PRESSURE MOUNTS TO CONSTRUCT REGIONAL AIRPORT AT POKHARA Kathmandu, 19 Aug.: The government is in a dilemma over giving a final stamp of approval to the lowest bidder for the construction of a regional international airport in Pokhara, with locals mounting pressure and the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) expressing concern simultaneously, Sangam Prasain reports in The Kathmandu Post.. The issue landed into controversy after the lowest bidder, China CAMC Engineering Co, quoted $305.13 million which is 85.5 percent higher than the cost estimated by the government. The government had estimated the cost at $180 million. People of Pokhara have launched an agitation against any delay in construction of the project, while they have already approached Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai and the top leadership of political parties. A senior CIAA official told the Post that they were concerned about the high bid against the estimated cost. “We have also asked the Finance Ministry to furnish details on national and international principle on which the project will be signed,” the official said. “We are yet to receive a response from the ministry.” However, the good news is that the issue is likely to be resolved within a week. “We will not take more than a week to resolve the issue,” the CIAA official added. Following the CIAA concern, the bureaucracy is thinking twice before taking a decision on the matter. High-level officials at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA), said deciding on the matter is beyond the capacity of the bureaucracy under the given circumstances. “The political leadership must step in to take the decision,” they said. Other two Chinese companies competing for the project were Sinohydro Corporation and China International Water and Electric Corporation. They had quoted $337.82 million and $349.28 million respectively. More meetings were expected at the technical level to resolve the issue. The ministry has also formed a fact-finding committee to look into the financial and technical hurdles of the project. Some officials said the Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) model was new to Nepal, and different to the country’s existing Public Procurement Act (PPA) that says that the bid amount must not be more than 10 percent of the estimated amount in general public procurements. Under the EPC model, the actual project cost would be determined only after engineering or design works of the project are completed. Engineering or design work is the first phase of the project under the (EPC) model. CAAN invited bids for the execution of the project under the EPC model on Feb 9 and extended the deadline twice. Meanwhile, some officials said the bid cannot be scrapped as it might invite legal consequences. The bidder can file complaints in the international court, claiming ‘opportunity cost’ which means the bidder could have gained by investing time and money in other areas. The government planned to use soft loans of around $145 million from the Export-Import Bank of China (Exim Bank) to fund the project. Meanwhile, the private sector body, Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), has supported the move taken by Pokhara locals on the construction of the regional international airport. The FNCCI expressed its solidarity with the Pokhara locals at a press meet on Friday. Nnnn nnnn NEPAL TO SEEK SOUTH KOREAN SUPPORT FOR RAILWAY DEVELOPMENT Kathmandu, 19 Aug.: Nepal will seek support from the South Korean government for the development of railway in the country, Raamesh Shrestha writes in The Kathmandu Post. . A high level government delegation led by the Minister for Physical Planning, Works and Transport Management, Hridayesh Tripathi, is scheduled to leave for Korea on Monday. The main objective of the four-day visit is to attract Korean aid and investment for the railway network and metro network in the Kathmandu valley, according to the ministry. The team includes Secretary Tulasi Prasad Situala, Joint Secretary Hari Om Srivastav and Railway Department Director General Ram Kumar Lamsal. “The visit is focused on exploring opportunities for the metro and railway development with South Korean support,” said Minister Tripathi, adding that they would also hold discussions on other infrastructure development and bilateral issues. Minister Tripathi is visiting Korea at the invitation of Korean Minister for Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs Kwon Do-youp. Tripathi will meet Kwon on Tuesday and request support for railway infrastructure development in Nepal. With the Nepal government prioritising railway, Korean firms have been expressing interest in investing in the development of railway infrastructure, besides conducting studies here. During the tour, the Nepali team will also visit the Korea Rail Network Authority’s headquarters and meet its chairman. It will also meet officials of the Exim Bank of Korea. During the meetings, the team will discuss the possibility of getting soft loans from the Exim Bank for the construction of the 136-km Bardibas-Simara-Birgunj section of the proposed Mechi-Mahakali Electric Railway or East West Railway. The railway network construction is estimated to cost Rs 200-400 million per km, depending on geography, according to Lamsal. Korean firm Chungsuk Engineering is preparing the detailed project report (DPR) of the Bardibas-Simara-Birgunj section which is expected to be ready by the next two months. If the Korean government shows interest, the government can award the contract of building railway sections to Korean firms, ministry officials said. “The whole thing depends on how the Korean government helps Nepal in railway affairs, and on the conditions of the soft loan agreement, if signed,” said a ministry official. A feasibility study carried out by RITES India two years ago had estimated the entire project cost at Rs 800 billion. Meanwhile, the ministry on Friday formally requested the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to carry out the DPR of the proposed metro railway network in the valley and an in-depth feasibility study of the North-South railway link. nnnn A