Dear Paramendra,
Thanks for hosting my appeal on your site. Am sending you an attachment you might
(find) interesting.
Arzu
The Royal Take Over, Arrest of Mr. Deuba and the Facts about Melamchi
The government headed by King Gyanendra is not only embarking on unconstitutional path
through its February 1st takeover, it is showing utter disrespect for democracy and human
rights in Nepal. The government is systematically working to destroy independent civil
societies, political parties and human right groups by letting loose state mechanism through
intimidation, excessive use of force, torture, arrest, censorship, control on freedom of
movement and disruption of communications. As if it was not enough, it has created a
so-called royal commission on control of corruption, totally disregarding the constitution
provision. Breaking all the constitutional norms, the commission is provided with power of
investigation, policing as well as power of special court. Empowering any one body with all
these powers is against the laws of jurisprudence. Despite the fact that there exists a
constitutional body called Commission Investigation Abuse of Authority (CIAA) created by
parliament to look after cases of corruption. Immediately after creation of royal commission,
it has started targeting political leaders by initiating cases against them for corruption. The
cases and charges against them are totally flimsy and clearly meant to discredit political
parties and its leaders. The King is afraid of growing political opposition against his rule and
therefore, likes to distract and confuse people by charging political leaders and its activists in
corruption cases.
The case cases against former Prime Minister Mr. Sher Bahadur Deuba and former Minister
Prakash Man Singh and way they were arrested clearly shows ill intention of the commission.
The Mr. Deuba was arrested in the middle of the night in abduction like fashion. The
telephone and electricity lines were cutoff and all the roads were blocked to create terror. It
shows it has no other objective but to intimidate those who choose to stand against the
unconstitutional royal government. The royal commission arrested them regarding
Melamchi drinking water project. The government propaganda machinery has been
blatantly trying to distort the facts. Asian Development Bank sources have made it very clear
that awarding of the contract of the access road to the project is made according to the
process followed by the bank and with concurrence from the bank. Although, many private
media has come up with the real story, we find it necessary to present facts about
Melamchi project to dispel any confusion to our friends, concerned citizens.
The Melamchi drinking water project is larger and complex and is supported by a number of
donors. It was approved in 2000 and was originally scheduled to be completed by 2006.
However, implementation progress is well behind the original schedule, so Asian Development
bank (ADB) and other donors have repeatedly expressed concerns to the government about
the prolonged delays. The contract for the access roads is on the project's critical path, since
it is needed to provide access to the tunnel, and most of the other major works cannot
commence until the access roads are substantially complete. The contract was re-tendered
after the original contract was terminated in May 2004 due to gross under-performance of
the contractor (85% of the contract period had elapsed, but only 11 percent physical progress
achieved). ADB concurred with the recommendation of the Melamchi project office to
terminate the contract and re-tendered. In view of the long delays already incurred, ADB has
repeatedly stressed the need to urgently complete the procurement process for the new
contract and restart the work as early as possible. In particular, it was considered essential
to take maximum advantage in the 2004/005 dry seasons to complete the contract
according to the current schedule.
Bids for the new contract were received in October 2004 and approval for award of the
contract was undertaken according to ADB procedures. First the project office evaluated the
bids in detail and recommendations were forwarded to ADB's procurement committee for
further review and approval. ADB formally approved the recommendation of the Melamchi
project office to award the contract to the lowest responsive bidder on 23 December 2004 at
a price slightly below the cost estimate.
Formal notice to proceed was issued to the successful contractor in early January 2005.
However, it was subsequently brought to ADB's attention that signing of the contract was
still being delayed. In view of the critical implications of further prolonged delays in
implementing work under contract, ADB again expressed serious concerns to the government
about the future of the project. Considering all these facts and satisfied that all the due
process and procedures followed, the contract was approved by the government and finally
awarded in late January 2005.
Throughout implementation of the project, ADB, as part of its routine review process has
monitored progress of the work. The semiannual joint review meetings between project staff
and the 6 donor agencies implementing the Melamchi project are a major element of the
monitoring process. The issues and constrains identified for action are expeditiously bought to
the attention of all relevant government officials including, as needed, the highest authority of
the government including prime minister by ADB.
These are the facts about Melamchi's contracting process. However, the government media
is spreading disinformation by saying that the Deuba government canceled the project and
that the new contract was given based on negotiations. The truth of the matter is that
Thapa's government in May 2004 canceled the previous contract, while the Deuba
government was formed only 2 June 2004. The new contract was awarded as per ADB
regulations through a global tender.
The ADB needs to not only 'leak' these facts but also to organize a press conference to clear
this before the global and Nepalese community. Not only to clear the names of the former PM
and minister but also for the sake of Nepal's democracy and to expose the plots against it.
Please send e-mails to hkuroda@adb.org and shrahman@adb.org. The former Mr. Haruhiko
Kuroda is President of ADB and the latter sultan Hafeez Rahman is the representative in
Nepal.
In The News
- Nepal: Cynicism Amid Competing Visions Scoop.co.nz (press release), New Zealand....cynicism festering in Nepal’s political discourse ..... Was Indian diplomatic pressure in the aftermath of the king’s meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Jakarta so untenable that he had no choice? ..... the purported “failure of the China card” ...... vast right-wing conspiracy to hoodwink the international community and impose some form of “guided democracy” ..... The idea that the monarch’s move might be a genuine effort at bolstering national reconciliation never seems to have gotten off the ground...... after suffering a series of battlefield blows, the Maoists have struck against the royal regime ..... Prachanda, who has for the first time publicly acknowledged deep rifts with the party’s chief ideologue, Dr. Babu Ram Bhattarai, has shed little of his ideological defiance...... Army generals are justifiably peeved at attempts to equate their derelictions with the depredations of those declaring war on the state ..... An impatient idealism against the injustices of the status quo has propelled the Maoist insurgency...... How longer can they continue using indiscriminate violence, often against the people they claim to be fighting for, without undermining their cause? ...... Undaunted by the crescendo of criticism his action has sparked, the king remains committed to playing an assertive role not only to extricate Nepal from its worst crisis but also as a pivot of modernization well into the future....... Gyanendra has said Nepal’s peace and stability depended on much more than constitutional monarchy and multiparty democracy ..... It is no secret that political parties, through their abysmal performance over 12 years, have failed the country. Perpetual denunciation cannot provide the drawing board for a blueprint for national rejuvenation...... the anti-corruption campaign may be metamorphosing into a full-blown political witch-hunt ....... creating an inclusive state structure and ensuring distributive justice .....
