RIVAL MAOISTS HOLD VIOLENT PROETESTS IN BALUWATAR Kathmandu, 9 Oct. At least one dozen persons were injured in violent protests and sit-in in front of Baluwatar Tuesday morning protesting the promotion of Col. Raju Basnet toBrigadier General of Nepal Army Col.Basnet has been cleared of charges of rights violations during the 10-year Maoist insurgency but rights groups in the country and abroad have protested the promotion. The promotion came the same day the cabinet withdrew criminal charges against Chairman Prachanda, Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai and other Maoistleaders, including Spokesman Agni Sapkota. Foreign and national rights protection organizations are silent of charges withdrawn against Maoists. nnnn GOVT. TASK FORCE TO AMICABLY COMPLETE ROAD EXPANSION DRIVE OPPOSED BY SOME EMBASSES Kathmandu,9 Oct.: Government has formed a task force headed by Joint Secretary Sunil Kumar Karna of Urban Development Ministry to pull down structures of diplomatic missions as part of the Valley’s road expansion drive, Sharad Chandra Bhandari writes for RSS, according to Nagarik. Dhararanidhar Khitawada of the Office of the Prime Minister and Council ofMinisters said the has been given a month’s time to collect data on land area of embassies, land that will be lost to expanded roads and complete the diplomatically in one month. nnnn NEW 2016 DEADLINE FOR COMLETION OF MELAMCHI Kathmandu, 9 Oct.: The government on Monday made public its action plan for the Melamchi Water Supply Project under which it has been rescheduled to be completed by March 2016. The project was supposed to be finished by 2015, but a termination of the contract with the Chinese contractor has forced the government to revise the completion date, Ashok Thapa writes in The Kathmandu Post.. When the contract was awarded, the project was slated to be completed by 2013 which was later revised to 2015 due to obstruction by locals. The Melamchi Water Supply Development Board (MWSDB), the project implementing agency, said that it was planning to resume the stalled task of tunnel construction following the contract termination with the Chinese company from the beginning of January 2013. The board said that it would sign a contract with a new firm on Jan 7, 2013 to resume the task. Following the contract termination with China Railway 15 Bureau Group, the government has begun exercises to call a new bid in an effort to continue tunnel construction work of the national pride project. On Sept 25, the government had announced terminating the contract with the company charging it of lack of seriousness and failing to meet the expectations while the Chinese contractor had already pulled out from the project. The MWSDB said that it would call a fresh invitation for bids on Nov 9 whose closing date would be Jan 7, 2013. “With the new process, we want to resume the task at the earliest,” said project Krishna Prasad Acharya, director general of the MWSDB, on Monday. According to him, this will further push back the project by two years and result in cost overruns. MWSDB officials said that taking a lesson from the previous failure story, the new contractor will be chosen by giving high emphasis on quality and efficiency of the company rather than low bidding. “We will not look at the cost factor while selecting a contractor, but its efficiency and the quality it delivers,” said Acharya. The Chinese company was awarded the contract worth Rs 4.28 billion three years ago. He added that the contractor selection process this time would be rigorous. The MWSDB has planned to go through technical and financial details, experience and expertise, success cases, assets and properties, human resources and method statement of the applicants. Meanwhile, the major financer for the project, the Asian Development Bank, has also pledged to select a quality contractor this time while committing additional funds for the project. Acharya also said that though the project is planned to be completed by 2016, the board will try to supply water in Kathmandu by September 2015. “In the new bidding document, we will state that the contractor would be rewarded if it completes its task before deadline while the contractor will be penalized for any delay,” said Ghanashyam Bhattarai, deputy director general of the board. Board officials also said tunnel construction work would begun from the point it had been halted. The Chinese company was awarded the tunnel construction project on condition that it would construct 700-800m monthly and start work from four points simultaneously. However, the company has dug only 6.5 km of tunnel while it was supposed to complete 20 km so far. “We can make some changes in the size and shape of the tunnel as per the recommendation of the new contractor,” said an official. Following the government’s ending the bond with the Chinese company, the ADB has agreed in principle to provide another soft loan for the project if necessary. “We already have some portion of the loan amount from the ADB,” said Acharya who is also the project chief, “If the amount is not enough, we will ask the ADB for additional loans.” nnnn NC BELIEVES MAOIST CHIEF DOESN’T HAVE GRIP OVER COLLEAGUES Kathmandu, 9 Oct.:The main opposition Nepali Congress believes that although Unified CPN-Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal is showing his ‘public posturing’ as if he is ready for either of the two options — fresh Constituent Assembly polls or CA revival — the reality is just the opposite. And Dahal is avoiding both the options in a tactical way as he does not see the prospects of his upper hand while opting for either of the options immediately, Prakash Acharya writes .in The Himalayan Times. There are four reasons behind his motive, according to NC’s knowledgeable sources. First, Dahal does not have control over his colleagues, coalition partners and the stakeholders, thus he is unable to fulfil his promises. Second, he does not see any possibility of his party winning the polls in the present context. Third, he does not want to revive the CA until he can establish two situations — holding prior consensus on the issues of the new constitution ‘with the stamp of his party’ or prolonging the revived CA for a long period. Fourth, he wants to prolong the party’s stay in the government until at least the party’s general convention slated for mid-February next year. “Dahal’s intention and move are unpredictable as he is not in control of his colleagues and coalition partners. He has the track record of backtracking from his promises on the pretext that he could not convince his colleagues,” says NC leader Ram Sharan Mahat. According to Mahat, Dahal frequently changes his policy and strategy in intra- and inter-party dealings and he cannot deliver on his promises. “So, either he is unreliable or he is not in control of his stakeholders,” Mahat says. Some other Congress leaders say the UCPN-M has been able to portray opposition parties — NC and CPN-UML — as anti-federalist forces. “In fact, the UCPN-M itself is not a federalist force, as its main intention is establishing a centralist form of governance,” says NC Vice-president Ramchandra Paudel. “In contrast, the UCPN-M has been successful to create an illusion that NC and other opposition parties are status-quoists and anti-federalists,” says Paudel, adding that Maoist Chairman Dahal does not want to hold consensus for either fresh polls or the CA revival immediately. “As the Maoists dissolved the CA in a planned way and is willing to prolong the transition, CA revival is not the party’s internal wish. They don’t want to frame a democratic constitution,” he says. The Congress leaders say the UCPN-M is playing a game by throwing different cards — sometimes CA revival, then fresh CA polls and then again an independent consensus government. “Dahal is becoming successful in his game even because of the inability of NC leadership to take decisions on national issues,” said CWC member Prakash Sharan Mahat. nnnn