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Tribhuvan International Airport runway contract in limbo
Officials of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal are confused over awarding the contract to lengthen the runway of Tribhuvan International Airport to a Nepali joint venture Kalika-Tundi after one of the partners became engulfed in a corruption case.Officials of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal are confused over awarding the contract to lengthen the runway of Tribhuvan International Airport to a Nepali joint venture Kalika-Tundi after one of the partners became engulfed in a corruption case.
The Air Transport Capacity Enhancement Project has been preparing to sign a contract worth nearly Rs1 billion with Kalika-Tundi to extend the runway by 300 metres at its southern end, or runway 02, since the previous contractor, Shanxi Construction Engineering Group of China, fled abandoning its performance bond.
Last Friday, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority filed a corruption case at the Special Court against former minister Bikram Pandey, the chairman of Kalika Construction, for substandard construction and repeated collapses of the main canal of the Sikta Irrigation Project.
“We are aware of the development, but don’t know whether we can sign a contract with the company or not,” said a project official who asked not to be named. “We will seek a legal solution to the matter if needed before proceeding.”