A parliamentary committee has directed the government to start construction of second international airport at Nijgadh of Bara as soon as possible.
The International Labor Relations Committee has issued directives to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation to immediately start construction of the proposed second international airport.
Following discussions in the committee, lawmakers asked the concerned ministry to initiate land acquisition process, resettlement of people in affected area, and prepare the construction site on a war footing.
The committee has also directed the Ministry of Soil Conservation and Ministry of Population to work in coordination with the tourism ministry to start construction work that has already been delayed by six years.
South Korean firm LMW had prepared detailed feasibility study of the project six years ago. According to the report, which has been kept secret, the project is estimated to cost Rs 35.51 billion.
However, Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Ananda Pokharel briefed the committee on Sunday that the South Korean firm had prepared the report with escalated price. "The company's intention is not in favor of construction of second international airport," he said, adding that the company has planned mega city which is not necessary.
Likewise, there was also some confusion on modality of the construction though the government had already decided to construct it under Build-Operate-Own-Transfer (BOOT) modality, according to Pokharel.
The committee has asked the ministry clear confusion on modality and immediately start construction work.
Likewise, there was confusion on developer of the mega project as both the tourism ministry and Nepal Investment Board wanted to develop it.
Construction of the National Pride Project was supposed to start in 2011 and complete by 2015. The airport was expected to handle 60 million passengers by 2030. But construction work has not begun because of the government apathy.
The government has allocated Rs 500 million each in the last fiscal years for construction work in the project site.
Nepal Tourism News Source: Myrepublica
0 comments:
Post a Comment