Party venues to host foreign returnees

Kathmandu, June 4

As the government is set to bring back vulnerable Nepalis from foreign countries amid the coronavirus pandemic, the COVID-19 Crisis Management Centre has turned to private banquet halls to host such returnees here in the Capital before sending them back to their home towns.

The CCMC has also fixed four government buildings to turn them into dedicated quarantine facilities for returnees if they show symptoms of the virus.

Government officials said they were holding discussion with district administration officers inside the valley to study the feasibility of turning open spaces into quarantine facilities for foreign returnees.

As the returnees touch down at Tribhuvan International Airport, they will be categorised as per their provinces and transported to three different districts in the valley.

Narayan Bidari, secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, said foreign returnees would be transported in Sajha Yatayat buses from Tribhuvan International Airport, accompanied by Nepali Army.

The returnees will be categorised as per their province and put up in party palaces in Bhaktapur, Kathmandu and Lalitpur.

People from Province 1 and 2 will be kept at Sallaghari-based Imperial Banquet and Thimi-based Hotel Heritage Party Palace in Bhaktapur.

People from Bagmati Province, Gandaki Province and Province 5 will be placed at Dhumbarai-based Skyzone Party Palace, Chappal Karkhana-based Kundalini Durbar Banquet, Sundhara-based Yeti Event and Sukedhara-based Miracle Party Palace in Kathmandu.

People of Karnali and Sudurpaschim provinces will be placed at Dhobighat-based Siddhartha Cottage, Manbhawan-based Delight Party Venue and Gwarko-based Mandala Party Palace.

Bidari said people might need to spend a few days at such venues before they are transported to their hometowns. The government is mulling repatriation of around 40,000 foreign employees with daily repatriation of around 2,500 to 3,000 people. Only returnees who test negative for the virus will be brought in repatriation flights from abroad.

Bidari also said they were working to construct more quarantine facilities in open spaces inside the valley if needed. “We are consulting the authorities in this regard,” Bidari said.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on June 5, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.