Bhauchprasad Yadav/Bomlal Giri
The expansion and upgrading of the Narayangadh-Butwal road section of the East-West Highway has stalled. Not only has the work stalled, the contractor has also disappeared. This information was given by the Minister of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Devendra Dahal, some time ago.
In a press conference held at the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport on August 2 to inform about the achievements made within one month of assuming office, Minister Dahal said that the construction company was not in contact.
He said that he had to send the project manager to China to find out who is the official person of the Chinese company entrusted with the expansion of the section. He informed that the head of the project has gone to China and requested to complete the road expansion work quickly and has returned to Nepal.
As the work could not be completed on time, the deadline of the Chinese contractor company was extended by one year last July 10th. After that, there is no other option but to repair the suddenly closed road as the road expansion work has to be accelerated. The Chinese contractor company kept some of the project workers and sent the rest to China.
According to the road department, the contractor company China State Construction Engineering Pvt Ltd has stopped the road expansion work by asking for more funds from the government. Chudaraj Dhakal, project director of the road department, informed that the contractor company has requested an additional two billion rupees from the government saying that they had to incur losses while expanding the road due to various reasons.
“The project is asking for more funds saying that there is a loss, but the loss is not caused by the government. Therefore, there is no question of increasing the amount,” Director Dhakal said, “We have asked them to return to work immediately, but the contractor is not present on the road even after the extension of the deadline. Earlier, Ashish Thapa, head of road project eastern section, said that he proposed to start the work only from October 15 due to the rainy season, but it has become clear that the secret of not working is something else.
video is almost one year ago’s
investment of the Government of Nepal. ADB has provided a loan with an interest rate of 1.5 percent to be repaid in 32 years.
An agreement was reached on Magh 24, 2075 to complete the road expansion work on Shraban 22 2079, but only 52 percent physical progress has been made in almost six years.
Hard to get paid
Nine months ago, the crusher businessmen complained to the then Chief District Officer of Nawalpur, Kalpana Shrestha, that the Chinese contractor company did not pay the amount on time. After the complaint, Prazia Shrestha asked the Chinese company to immediately pay the businessman’s money in a public event.
After that, although the company paid some amount during the last festival, the businessmen complained that they are yet to receive a large amount of gravel, stone, sand, rod,
According to Bhojendra Rayamazhi, President of Nepal Stone, Roda Business Committee, 350 million rupees have yet to be paid from 10 Chinese contractors, but since the businessmen have already paid the VAT amount, they have been hit further. Chudaraj Dhakal, the project director of the road department, did not agree that it was 35 crores, but said that the businessmen are yet to receive a large amount of.
Not only businessmen, but also small contractors and workers have not been paid. Dev Gahamgar, who transports river products in the western section of the Narayangadh-Butbal road section, also complained that he has not received payment of nearly two and a half crores.
The laborers working in the lower section have also complained that they have not received the money. “You have to work all day and take care of your children, the contractor does not try to give you money, sometimes it is difficult to make a living when you only get money,” laborer Krishna Pulami said. Even now, there has been no work other than emergency maintenance.”
