Deadline for crushers extended till mid-Jan

KATHMANDU, Sept 1:

Bowing to pressure exerted by crusher operators, the government on Monday decided to extend the deadline for implementation of standards for crusher industry till mid-January 2015.

The meeting of cabinet´s Economic and Infrastructure Committee on the day decided to renew license of crusher operators till mid-January 2015. With the decision, the supply of sand and aggregate is expected to come into normalcy soon.

Earlier, the cabinet had extended the deadline from mid-April to mid-July on the pressure of crusher operators.

After the previous deadline ended in mid-July, entrepreneurs took to the streets protesting the decision to standardize crusher industry.

Among others, the new set of standards restricts crusher industries from operating within a certain distance from forests, highways and public entities. Similarly, they are required to conduct environmental impact studies. Also concerned government bodies will keep a tab on their extraction.

Talking to Republica, Shanta Raj Subedi, secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, argued that the decision was taken keeping in view the stalled development works in different parts of the country and allow crusher industries to clear their stock. He also said the decision won´t make much impact on environment as crusher industries have huge amount of raw materials in stock. “They will have to clear the stock by mid-January next year by producing finished construction materials,” he added.

Subedi also said crusher operators that fail to meet the new standards will have to shift their factories to stone quarries identified by the Department of Mines and Geology.

The government has announced incentives like income tax holiday and rescheduling of bank loans for crusher operators abiding by the new standards.
Black-marketing of construction materials started in the market after crusher operators stopped sending their products to the market. Though crusher operators have huge stock of finished construction materials, they were reluctant to send them to the market. Local administration did absolutely nothing to take action against those foul players.

Crusher operators even barred 32 crusher factories, who meet the new standards set by the government, from sending their products in the market in their bid to pile pressure on the government.

There are around 600 registered crusher operators in the country. But only around 350 of them are currently in operation.

Umesh Sherchan, president of Nepal Crusher and Mines Entrepreneurs Association, welcomed the government decision to extend the deadline till mid-January 2015. “We will now renew our plants and make the supply normal soon,” he added.

Source: Republica