Building material dealers to unite

KATHMANDU, AUG 12 -Construction material dealers have decided to form their apex body to deal with problems in policies, their common challenges and to unite themselves. A meeting of dealers from 15 districts held in the Capital on Friday formed an ad hoc committee to this effect.

With the rise in construction work propped up by the realty sector over the last couple of years, the number of construction material dealers is increasing. However, there is no any record on the businessmen involved, the sector’s annual turnover, tax being paid to the government and employment opportunities generated. The proposed Federation of Nepal Construction Materials Dealers’ Association aims to unite

all producers and dealers of construction materials to raise voice for their rights and run business in a dignified way.

At the meeting, Yubak Rajbhandari, former president of Bhaktapur Chamber of Commerce and Industry and construction material dealer, said setting up a federation was the need of hour to find out traders’ common problems and solve them. “We will form the federation within a year holding an election,” said Rajbhandari.

Currently, some 15 district and municipality level associations have joined hands for forming the federation. At the meeting held at the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) secretariat, dealers said they have been facing problems of high bank interest rates and unnecessary raids by the government in suspicion of under-invoicing.

FNCCI Senior Vice President Bhaskar Raj Rajkarnikar asked the dealers to include traders from at least 35 districts and suggested to work on building harmonious relation among different fields of the private sector. “Election should be held within next six months to choose an executive committee,” he added.