Home Minister vows to improve roads in Kathmandu

KATHMANDU: Minister for Home Affairs Ram Bahadur Thapa has vowed to coordinate with the stakeholders to improve the road conditions in Kathmandu valley.

"Due to the contractor's negligence, the development projects have not moved ahead and efforts have been made to move the project ahead in coordination with concerned ministries to improve the conditions of roads in Kathmandu," Thapa shared.

He further said a delay in completion of the road expansion projects has further deteriorated the quality of air in Kathmandu valley.

Speaking in the meeting of the Sustainable Development and Good Governance Committee of the National Assembly, the upper house of the federal parliament, today, he said the network of the people involved in gold smuggling has been dismantled and the lynchpin of this racket has been booked.

He informed the committee that investigation showed a single racket smuggled 4,000 quintals gold from Dubai alone in a period of three years, and only 10 per cent of this smuggled gold was consumed in the country and the rest was smuggled out to India.

'We are trying to control the smuggling of gold worth billions of rupees,' the Minister for Home Affairs asserted.

Stating that development and construction activities would not be possible unless corruption is blunted and fully controlled, he expressed determination that the government would leave no stone unturned to put an end to the tendency of holding backfiles (related to development projects) until getting a bribe.

"The home administration is working to create an atmosphere conducive for good governance, peace and development."

Home Minister Thapa asserted to launch a campaign against alcohol consumption, one of the reasons behind increasing cases of crime including murder and rape across the nation.

According to the Home Minister, some forces are causing obstructions in the way towards development and good governance in the name of caste, religion and community.

"The government is committed to overcoming all these challenges," Minister Thapa said.