Pokhara locals call off strike after minister's assurance

Tourism Minister Posta Bahadur Bogati on Thursday promised to take a concrete decision regarding the development of Pokhara regional international airport (PRIA) within two weeks, following which the local pressure group called off the strike.
The local stakeholders had announced two-day closure of Pokhara airport for Friday and Saturday in a bid to press the government to promptly move ahead the PRIA project, which remains uncertain after opposition by four different trade unions at Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), which termed the project as financially unsustainable after the cost mentioned by the lowest bidder was nearly double the CAAN estimate.
Although the Pokhara locals have welcomed the minister´s assurance, Republica has learnt that confusion over the project still exists between the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) and CAAN.
The ministry is positive about implementing the project but CAAN is unhappy with the Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) under which the project is being developed. Under EPC model, the contractor needs to carry out the entire development process of the project from designing to construction.
Tri Ratna Manandhar, director general of the CAAN said the problem with the project surfaced mainly as CAAN had no experience of developing projects under EPC model and did not anticipate huge variation in cost that China´s CAMC - the lowest bidder - quoted and CAAN estimated. CAMC had quoted US$ 305.13 million against CAAN estimate of US$ 305.13 million.
According to him, such variation arose mainly because CAMC proposed to develop a different sort of airport than what CAAN was looking for in the Pokhara. "The kind of airport that the Chinese company has proposed to develop in Pokhara is not economically viable. Otherwise we have no difference over the development of PRIA," Manandhar stated.
Contrary to CAAN´s version, a high-ranking official at MoCTCA, said, "We have to develop documents synchronizing them with the laws in order to develop this project since it is also significant for our bilateral relationship with China, northern neighbor - rapidly establishing itself in the global economy."
"PRIA is a project of national interest. The government will execute it at any cost," the official told Republica requesting anonymity. "The bidding process has been completed and we are at a point of no return. The government will ink an agreement with the Chinese government complying with all the pertinent national laws soon."
CAAN, which will be responsible to operate the airport after its completion, however, is not quite positive on the development of project through the EPC model.