CAAN, CAMCE sign agreement for Pokhara Regional International Airport
KATHMANDU, May 22:
The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has finally signed an agreement with China CAMC Engineering Co, Ltd (CAMCE) for the construction of the Pokhara Regional International Airport (PRIA).
Luo Yan, the chairman and president of CAMCE, and Ratish Chandra Lal Suman, the director general of CAAN, signed the agreement amid a function held at CAAN on Thursday.
“The project is very important to us and we will contribute our expertise and do our best to finish the project within the scheduled time,” Lou said, adding that CAMCE will meet all the requirements put forward by the government for the construction of the airport.
CAAN had invited tenders for the airport in the BoQ (Bills of Quantities) model with the estimated cost at US$ 145 million. But the contract has been signed in the Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) model with costs estimated at up to US$ 216 million.
Luo Yan (2nd from right), the chairman and president of CAMCE, and Ratish Chandra Lal Suman, the director general of Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), sign an agreement for the construction of the Pokhara Regional International Airport at a ceremony at the CAAN office in Babar Mahal, Kathmandu, on Thusday.(Dipesh Shrestha/Republica)
“Appointing a contractor for PRIA is a very important part of the project and we are happy to work with CAMCE. The construction of PRIA, which has been pending for the last 40 years, will promote tourism and contribute to raising the gross domestic product (GDP),” said Suman.
The construction of PRIA has been rather a controversial issue.
On April 7, the CAAN board gave the green signal for the construction of the controversial regional international airport in Pokhara. That meeting of the CAAN board, chaired by the tourism and civil aviation minister Bhim Acharya, approved the project under a revised cost of $216 million as recommended by an independent three-member panel formed by the government.
The CAAN Employee Union then issued a statement saying that it was against the signing of a deal for the Pokhara airport as the project was not feasible -- both technically and financially. The union’s argument has been that CAAN, whose annual income is around Rs 3.5 billion, is not in a condition to bear additional loans of Rs 25 billion as it already has Rs 20 billion in loans.
Meanwhile, Suman Kumar Shrestha, the deputy director general at CAAN, requested the Chinese government to convert a loan-assistance into a grant-assistance during the program.
“We hope the People’s Republic of China provides continuous support in the development of infrastructure in Nepal and consider converting loan-assistance they have pledged for building the airport as per required international standards into a grant-assistance,” said Shrestha.
The airport project has been on hold since July 2012 after the lowest bidder -- China CAMC -- bid $305 million, which was 85 percent higher than the cost estimated by Nepal. The government had anticipated the project would cost around $166 million.
The construction area of Pokhara Airport is about 200 hectares and the runway will be around 2,500 meters long and 45 meters wide, which according to CAMCE will be appropriate for landings and taking-offs for aircraft at the airport. CAMCE says that the airport will be one of the most modern airports in Nepal.
The Ministry of Finance (MoF) will take concessional loans from Exim Bank China and CAAN will then get a loan from MoF at an interest rate of 8 percent.
CAMCE will construct the runway, taxi-way, apron, international and domestic terminal buildings, air-traffic control tower, cargo terminal building and airport hanger.
The government acquired 3,106 ropanis of land at Chinedanda for PRIA 38 years ago and this year plans to add 500 ropanis to the project as the new study suggests that it requires additional land. To acquire the additional land, the government has put aside Rs 1 billion for this Fiscal Year.
The government and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) carried out a detailed study for the feasibility of the airport project in 1989. At that time, the study had proposed a 2,500 meters long and 50 meters wide runway, a terminal and a cargo building.
CAMCE is expected to complete construction of the airport within four years after it starts its work.
The PRIA project is one of the largest economic and technical cooperation projects between Nepal and China.
CAMCE hopes the implementation of this project significantly promotes the Nepal-China friendly relations of comprehensive partnership of cooperation.
Source: THT
