KATHMANDU, SEP 09 -The Nepal Purbadhar Bikas Company Limited (NPBCL) has faced a setback before commencing construction work on the highly anticipated Kathmandu-Kulekhani-Hetauda Tunnel Highway, with one of its board members resigning.
Bikram Pandey resigned from the position on Thursday, citing “irresponsible decisions” by Chairman Kush Kumar Joshi, former president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI). The resignation has raised concern over the future of the project, as Pandey heads a successful construction company.
Pandey has accused Joshi of misusing the power and resources of the company for personal benefits, allegations which Joshi has rejected. The NPBCL, the country’s first infrastructure development company, was established specifically to contruct the 58km Kathmandu-Hetauda tunnel road. Pandey, who resigned from the post on Thursday, was one of the 12 board members of the NPBCL.
“I do not see the tunnel highway dream eventuating, due to the activities of the chairman, so I opted to resign before it is too late,” said Pandey, who is chairman of the Kalika Group, one of country’s leading construction companies. He is also one of the advisors of the Federation of Contractors’ Association of Nepal (FCAN).
Pandey said that Joshi had failed to share information regarding resource collection, appointment of staff, donations provided and assigning a consultancy
service of Rs 85 million without free competition. However, Joshi said that the accusations were only “personal dissatisfactions”, stating that the institution was being run in a transparent and systematic way. “We will accept his resignation, and at the annual general meeting of the NPBCL (scheduled for September 23), we will discuss the issues pointed out by Pandey,” said Joshi. He also said that Pandey had never been supportive towards the team and the project. The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, which handed over the project to the NPBCL, said that the dispute was a result of a “personality clash”. Pandey was included in the core team based on his expertise in the construction and infrastructure development sector, according to one board member of the NPBCL.
Lal Krishna KC (Vice-chairman of the NPBCL), Jayram Lamichhane (President of the FCAN), Pradeep Jung Pandey (Vice-president of the FNCCI), Sukunta Lal Hirachan (Chairman of the United Builders), Subash Chandra Thakuri (Former Chairman of the Sisneri VDC), Siddhi Lal Shrestha (Senior Vice-president of the Nepal Petroleum Dealers Association), Mohan Basnet (Former Chairman of the Talku VDC), Raju Man Maharjan (Former Chairman of the Kulekhnai VDC), Khushbu Sarkar Shrestha and Nugal Ananda Vaidhya are other members of the board.
Lamichhane said that small disputes in initial phases would not affect the overall aim of building the tunnel highway. “We will devise a standard operating procedure and move ahead,” he added.
Around 200,000 individuals, private sector institutions, local government bodies of Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Makawanpur are expected to contribute Rs 10,000-Rs 1 million towards the eagerly awaited project. The Kalika Group has invested Rs 1 million in the tunnel highway project, according to a board member.
The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), FCAN, bank and financial institutions, Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies and
Non-resident Nepalese are some of the institutional investors in the projects.
The proposed tunnel highway will link Hetauda to the capital, with commuters reaching their destination in just one hour. It is estimated that the project will cost around Rs 35 billion and will be completed by December 2016. Four months ago, the NPBCL had received permission from the government to build the tunnel highway, which is the first toll road of the country under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model.
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