Payment dispute snags SEZ opening

BHAIRAHAWA, OCT 31 - A dispute has ensued between the contractor and the administrative body of the Bhairahawa Special Economic Zone (SEZ) over payments.

The disagreement comes at a time when the formal opening of the country’s first SEZ is slated for November 15.

The contractor—Gauri-Parvati Nirman Sewa—has said it would not hand over the buildings to the project until the latter clears the dues which stand at Rs 20 million. “We forwarded the bill to the SEZ authority six months ago, but we are yet to receive the payment,” said Ram Kumar

Thapa, proprietor of the construction company, adding the government-allocated budget was frozen, but we weren’t paid.

However, Industry Minister Mahesh Basnet made it clear the government would stick to its plan, and inaugurate the SEZ on the set date. “The government has shown enough generosity in the past towards the contractor in extending deadlines,” said Basnet. “The payment issue can be settled in the coming days.”

Saroj Kumar Vaidya, officiating executive director of the SEZ, also said they were committed to inaugurating the project on the set date.

“The contractor cannot refuse to hand over the building for the inauguration just showing the cause of payment delay as far as legality is concerned,” he said.

Vaidya said the payment was delayed as the contractor was yet to complete some construction work in line with the agreement.

“Some technical problems have emerged in the constructed structure,” he said, adding the structure constructed is not up to the mark, and is not in line with the map. The government, with an aim to promote domestic as well as the foreign investment to generate employment, started the SEZ’s construction 14 years ago. The project, spread on 55 bighas of land, prepared a detailed study report nine years ago, and assigned several construction companies to carry out construction work in different times.

Project Engineer Narayan Regmi blamed the contractor’s slow work for the delay in the completion of the SEZ. He said 95 percent of the work has been completed. “Due to the delay, constructed infrastructure like water treatment, overhead tank, drainage and electrification have started to deteriorate.

Thapa, however, blamed the government’s failure to clear the dues timely for slow work progress. “Just because of the vested interest of a few SEZ staff, we faced financial problems,” he said.

The delay has swelled the project cost to Rs 620-630 million. It was originally estimated to cost Rs 510 million.

Source: The Kathmandu Post