Miscellaneous
Oli, Dahal accuse govt of working ‘on a whim’
The left alliance of the CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Centre) on Wednesday criticised the government for scrapping a deal with a Chinese firm to construct the Budhi Gandaki hydroelectricity project.The left alliance of the CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Centre) on Wednesday criticised the government for scrapping a deal with a Chinese firm to construct the Budhi Gandaki hydroelectricity project.
Addressing a joint press meet in the Capital, UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli and Maoist Centre Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal said the Nepali Congress (NC)-led government “made a mistake by scrapping the agreement with the Chinese company”.
The government on Monday scrapped the agreement with China Gezhouba Group Corporation (CGGC) to build the 1,200 MW hydroelectric project, the largest in the country. The project was agreed in June during Dahal’s prime ministership and was estimated to cost $2.5 billion.
“The decision to award the project to the Chinese company was taken in consultation with the NC when I was the prime minister. The government, of which we still are a part, should have consulted us before taking such a huge decision,” said Dahal.
Stating that the government scrapped the deal “on a whim”, Oli said there must be some foul play as the decision has been taken at a time when the government should have been focusing on successful completion of the elections.
He also warned “the caretaker government” not to take any decision that can have long-term implications.
“The issue here is about foreign investment and such decisions cannot be taken on a whim,” said Oli.
The government has argued that the deal was scrapped as per the instructions of a parliamentary committee, as the company was awarded the project without an open and transparent bidding process.
After the Cabinet decided to scrap the deal, Deputy Prime Minister and Energy Minister Kamal Thapa announced in a tweet: “The Cabinet has terminated the irregular… impulsive Budhi Gandaki hydroelectricity project agreement with Gezhouba Group.”
The deal with CGGC was signed just a month after Nepal signed up to China’s ambitious One Belt, One Road Initiative, a massive infrastructure drive of the Asian giant to build a modern-day Silk Road across Asia, in May.
‘Stop attacks on our candidates’
KATHMANDU: The left alliance on Wednesday called on the government to act to stop attacks on its candidates in different parts of the country. At a joint press meeting in the Capital, CPN-UML Chairman KP Oli and CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal said some of the activities of the government in recent days have been suspicious which could spoil the poll environment. Senior Maoist leaders Janardan Sharma and Barsha Man Pun and UML leader Sherdhan Rai were attacked in recent days while they were on the campaign trail. (PR)