WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON TURNINGL POINT FOR POLITICS; PARTIES SAY THEY WILL GO FOR POLLS WITHOUT AN AGREEMENT Kathmandu, 19 Sept.: A final effort is being bade Wednesday by the Big Three and ruling Madeshi Morcha of five terai parties to find a solution to a prolonged prolonged constitutional and political deadlock Party leaders said they’ll go for snap polls if no solution is found by three in the afternoon Wednesday. The parties were also discussing constitutional assembly reinstatement along with formation of a consensus government. President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav has suggested snap polls as a solution to the current deadlock. Nnnn DPM SHRESTHA RETURNING FROM BEIJING, HEADING FOR NEW YORK IMMEDIATELY Kathmandu, 19 Sept.: Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Foreign Minister Narayan Kazi Shrestha returns from China Wednesday. He’ll head for New York to attend the annual UN general assembly session as head of the Nepali delegation after Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai belittling the meting. First announcing he’ll visit New York for the second time in one year, the premier later said he wouldn’t attend saying no new agenda was being discussed. Nnnn MEDIA GOOGLE “He [PM] went ahead with the coup [call for snap assembly polls] knowing that the nation will face both constitutional and political crises.” (Nilambar Acharya, The Himalayan Times, 19 Sept.) Nnnn PM LIKELY TO VISIT CHINA Kathmandu, 19Sept.: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Kaji Shrestha today held comprehensive talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, Lekhnath Pandey writes in The Himalayan Times from Beijing.. The two leaders discussed a wide range of bilateral issues, including Chinese investment in West Seti hydropower project, BIPPA, construction of Pokhara airport and East-West High Hill Road. They also discussed regional and global issues, including reforms of the United Nations, better cooperation of SAARC and China’s recent dispute with Japan over the Diaoyu Islands. Shrestha told THT the meeting with the Chinese foreign minister was “comprehensive and productive” in reviewing the entire ga-mut of bilateral ties. “Particularly, discussions were held on five areas including investment, trade, tourism, infrastructural development and security.” The Chinese side inquired about the progress made on the draft of the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPPA), which China had forwarded twice to Nepal in 2011 and early this year to which the Nepali side apprised that the content of the BIPPA was under “internal consultation”. Immediately after Nepal signed the BIPPA with India in last October, China had also proposed Nepal for a similar agreement, but seeking more ownership pattern and investment protection measures. According to DPM, he told the Chinese side that Nepal would like to follow the Chinese model of attracting foreign capital in a way of protecting and maintaining national ownership and self reliance. Responding to this, his Chinese counterpart said that it would have no problem to follow the investment modality in Nepal what it has been following with other foreign investors. The meeting was convened for an hour followed by a luncheon. In the meeting, both sides agreed to “renegotiate” the technical aspects of China’s investment in building an international airport in Pokhara. China has already bid for the project, but now both sides have realised that some “revisions” are needed in an earlier MoU to this effect. “We have agreed to renegotiate the technical aspects of the earlier agreement,” Shrestha told THT. The two foreign ministers also agreed for the construction of the 750 MW West Seti project. Nepali side has also proposed for China’s soft loan or grant in building an ambitious East-West High Hill Road. The two neighbours also reiterated smooth and early implementation of the agreements signed during Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s visit to Nepal in January, including establishing a bilateral high level mechanism at the Foreign Minister’ level. On political front, Yang underscored for early conclusion of peace process and constitutional framing in Nepal. He said China pla-ces high regards for Nepal’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence. DPM Shrestha reciprocated the Chinese sentiments by reiterating Nepal’s commitment to One China policy and its “zero tolerance” on activities against China from its soil. Shrestha is also scheduled to meet Zhou Yong-kang, member of Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China, tomorrow morning. Later in the afternoon, he will leave Beijing for Nepal. Bhattarai’s visit on the cards Deputy Prime Minister Shrestha invited Chinese FM Yang to visit Nepal and urged his counterpart Jiechi to make necessary arrangement for an early visit of Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai to Beijing. Shrestha made the request during their bilateral meeting, a top source revealed to THT. Yang accepted the invite and said he would plan his visit to Nepal at a convenient time. PM Bhattarai has an invitation due from China, where he wants to embark “any time soon”. “We believe China is arranging an official visit of our prime minister at its convenient time,” the source quoted DPM Shrestha as telling to FM Yang. In the afternoon, the DPM interacted with Chinese business leaders and urged them to invest in Nepal’s infrastructure development sectors, especially on hydro power generation, building roads, airports and tourism sectors. nnnn NEPAL TO ASK CHINA TO RELAX QUARANTINE PROCEDURES AT MEETING OF AGRO. MINISTERS Kathmandu, 19 Sept Amid frequent problems faced by the Nepali traders in exporting animal products due to strict Chinese quarantine rules, Nepal is preparing to push the northern neighbor to simplify its quarantine procedures when the two sides convene for agricultural ministers´ meet in two weeks in Kathmandu, Prabhakar Ghimere writes in .Republica. Senior officials at the Ministry of Agriculture Development (MoAD) said the issues and agendas of the high-level bilateral talks scheduled from September 30 to October 2 are yet to be finalized. “But quarantine related hassle faced by Nepali exporters will definitely feature at the top of our agenda,” said the source. Dr Ganesh Raj Joshi, secretary of MoAD will be leading the talks on behalf of the Nepali government, while Niu Dun, Chinese Vice Minister for Agriculture will be leading the Chinese seven-member delegation. They are expected to discuss areas of cooperation and also focus on addressing problems seen in trade of agriculture products between the two neighbors, the source told Republica. The MoAD have decided to raise problems of quarantine mainly after sporadic cases of disputes surfaced over the quarantine of Nepali animal products by the Chinese officials. “Our efforts will be aimed at convincing the Chinese sides to simplify the rule so that Nepal´s animal products could find access to the Chinese markets,” said the source. Despite huge potential to export animal products, mainly meats from Nepal to Tibet, its exports have not been smooth due to complicated quarantine system put in place by the Chinese customs officials. Similarly, Nepali officials are also requesting China to sell chemical fertilizers to Nepal, which has been facing frequent shortage due to unreliable sources of imports. “Amid increasing demand from our farmers and absence of reliable sources of supply, we are proposing China to sell chemical fertilizers, as an alternative source,” said the source. Though Nepal has been importing chemical fertilizers from India and other countries, the process of procurement has been lengthy and unreliable. This has led to acute shortage of fertilizers across the country during major farming seasons. Similarly, Nepal is also requesting Chinese officials to support strengthening the capacity of Nepal´s agriculture resource centers, improving farm infrastructures and enhancing capacity of agriculture human resources. The officials said Chinese officials have already conveyed their interest to support Nepal in enhancing its farm productivity and commercializing the animal farming, fishery and boosting agro production in hill areas in Nepal. The official also said China´s proposed supports include commercialization of animal farming through use of improved breeds of animals such as yak, sheep and mountain goats to boost production. “Besides cooperation in animal farming, China has also shown interest in supporting us to expanding fish farming and boosting citrus fruits production and cereal products in hill districts of the country,” said the source. Nepal suffered a trade deficit of around Rs 44 billion with the world second largest economy during the fiscal year 2010/11 due to weak supply strength from Nepali sides. Major commodities being imported to China, which is Nepal´s second largest trading partner, are live plants, milled rice, wheat flour, noodles, incense sticks, hides, jewelries, mattress and vegetables, among others. Similarly, Nepal´s has been importing electronic goods, electrical items, garments, shoes, vehicles, machineries, home appliances, fruits and vegetables from China. Nnnn ________________________________________ ________________________________________ GOVT. FROMS BODY TO INVESTIGATE ILLLEGAL LAND GRAB ALONG DHOBI KHOLA Kathmandu, 19 Sept Government on Tuesday formed a four-member probe team to investigate illegal transfer of 32 ropanis (4.02 acres) of public land at Mahankal VDC in Kathmandu to individual ownership. The probe team of Devnarayan Thakur, survey officer at Department of Survey, Sudarshan Singh Dhami, chief of Survey office at Chabahil, Parashuram Adhikari, survey Officer at Dillibazar Survey Office and Pawan Raj Koirala of Land Reform and Manangemnt Department has been directed to start the investigation immediately. The team will study the field books at the time of transfer of land ownership as well as the decision of the committee which had upgraded the map of the area. The team will also hold discussion with the locals of the area. The land was transferred to private ownership in the past three years. The map at the survey office Chabahil however, still mentions the plots as public land. The land area in the ward no 9 of the VDC was registered as public land after Dhobi Khola changed its course over 4 decades ago. Daffodil School, Ekata Basti along with other multistoried building and business complexes have been erected in the area now. The existing legal provision says any land that become exposed after rivers changes is public property. The law also prohibits transfer of any public land to the private ownership. The documentary evidences shows that Director Generals (DG) of the Department of Survey Toyanath Baral and Rabin Kaji Sharma and acting DG Hridaya Narayan Mishra had consented to the illegal transfer of the land ownership. The Survey Department had provided written consent to the Goshwara office when the illegal transfers took place. Nnnn ________________________________________ CHINESE CONTRACTOR THREATENS TO HALT WORK ON MELAMCHI Kathmandu, 19 Sept.: The Chinese contractor for Melamchi Drinking Water Project today warned work would stop if the government did not address the company’s demands, The Himalayan Times writes.. Organising a press meet in Kathmandu, the contractor demanded that the problems be resolved for project work to continue. “We cannot continue work on the drinking water project if the problems are not resolved,” said Li Tuemei, secretary of the contractor company. “If the problems are resolved, the company will complete the project by 2015,” he said. Melamchi Water Supply Development Board and the Chinese joint venture China Railway 15 Bureau Group Corporation and China Machinery Industry Construction Group Inc had signed the contract agreement on February 19, 2009, promising to complete the project by September 2, 2013. However, only 6.5 km of the 27 km long tunnel of the project has been completed till now. The Chinese company had won the bid for the Asian Development Bank-funded project at the cost of about Rs 2 billion. According to the contractor, the government issued only Rs 580 million to the contractor, while the contractor has already spent Rs 2 billion on the project. The problems underlined by the contractor includes delay in providing possession of site and access, failing to pay the contractor the due amount, to provide ground control points/GPS, engineers failing to perform design and supervision properly and on time, insufficiency and deficiency of technical and contract documents, unfair contract and irrational risk allocation. “We want to continue the project, but the problems should first be addressed. We can compromise if the genuine problems are solved. If these problems are not settled, we will not be able to continue the project. This means the project will cost much more the next time,” said contractor secretary Li. The government is planning to call fresh bids if the contractor abandons the project. However, the government is ready to address the partial demands of the contractor in order to complete the project, said sources. nnnn