Govt to appoint directors at Birgunj Sugar

The government has decided to formally appoint board members at Birgunj Sugar Factory to resume operation of state-owned enterprise that has remained closed for the last one decade.
“The Council of Ministers has given a nod in this regard and has forwarded the proposal to its financial committee,” Yam Kumari Khatiwada, joint secretary at the Ministry of Industry (MoI), told Republica on Friday.
The MoI, which acted on recommendation laid by the factory´s ad-hoc board of directors led by Dhurba Lal Rajbansi, director general of the Department of Industry (DoI), had submitted a proposal on appointment of board members at the sugar mill to the cabinet more than a week ago.
“The new board directors will be responsible for carrying out the task of identifying the most effective way to resume operation of the sugar factory,” Khatiwada said.
According to an MoI official, the new board of directors will comprise 7 members, of which four will come from government agencies and three from the private sector.
The MoI took the step after the Public Enterprises (PE) Board gave its nod to resume operation of the factory by roping in the private sector.
“We suggested that the government resume operation of the factory but on condition of handing it over to the private sector since the government has time and again failed to run the factory smoothly,” Bimal Wagle, chairman of the PE Board, said.
The factory that was closed nine years ago still has to deal with 193 former workers who denied the government´s golden handshake offer.
“The new board of directors will also be responsible in settling this issue,” Khatiwada added.
The factory was almost liquidated by the government some nine years ago after it started incurring losses due to problems such as over-staffing and continuous shortage of raw materials, especially sugarcane.
Earlier, in 2009, the then finance minister Babu Ram Bhattarai, who is now the prime minister, declared that he wanted to see the factory running.