CMP: Key dev projects will be made strike-free
KATHMANDU, MAR 19 - The government announced on Tuesday that national highways, educational institutions, industrial enterprises and big development projects would be made strike-free.
Shutdowns in these sectors have taken a heavy toll on public life and the country’s economic prospects. Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat has been talking about making these sectors strike-free for quite some time.
Releasing the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) of the coalition government , its spokesperson Minister for Information and Communication Minendra Rijal said that the government would also introduce a Fiscal Accountability Act which would make it mandatory to present the annual budget on a certain date of the year.
Ever since the previous Constituent Assembly was formed, the budget has been constantly delayed or endorsed late due to the political imbroglio. The budget for the current fiscal year was uncharacteristically presented on time.
As a result of delayed budget presentations, the government has been repeatedly failing to spend the capital budget which has hampered economic growth massively.
Meanwhile, the government has also announced making efforts to provide electricity to households during the evening.
However, the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has been cutting power in the evenings most of the time stating that it could not handle power demands during peak hours which fall in the evening. The CMP stated that load-shedding would be eliminated within the next three years.
Following the completion of the Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project, which is expected to be completed by 2016, load-shedding should be history.
Despite several hydropower projects being constructed and many already signing power purchase agreements (PPA) with the NEA, lack of transmission lines has been the biggest problem in delivering power from these projects.
The government said that it would introduce a strong law to discourage obstructions in the construction of transmission lines in the name of compensation for land or other problems. In order the discourage the tendency of carrying power development licences in a bag instead of actually developing them, the CMP has stated that the licences of those who have not developed their projects for a long time will be scrapped.
“While giving licences, a deadline for starting the project will also be fixed; and those failing to honour
the deadline will lose the licence,” it stated. The government has also promised to introduce a new Industrial Enterprises Act and Special Economic Zone Act which the private sector has long been demanding.
“A foreign investment policy and act will also be introduced soon,” it said. In a bid to reduce labour problems in the industrial sector, the CMP has also talked about permitting only one authorized trade union in any industrial unit.
Industrialists have claimed that they have been forced to pay more or close down their factories to fulfil the demands of myriad trade unions. Those setting up factories in the Far Western and the Mid-Western regions will be given a tax exemption for a certain period. “Industrial estates will be established in Kanchanpur, Kailali and other potential areas,” stated the CMP.
Source: The Kathmandu Post
