KATHMANDU, JANUARY 24

Fertiliser weighing 7,591 metric tonnes dumped at Birgunj dry port for the past one-anda-half years is yet to be properly managed, thanks to the negligence of authorities.

Repeated calls to the ministries of Finance and Agriculture and Livestock to manage the fertiliser have gone unheeded, it is said. Lack of coordination among the ministries and other concerned authorities has made the matter worse, said the customs office.

The fertiliser packed in sacks imported by Salt Trading Corporation Limited and Krishi Samagri Company Limited has been dumped under the open sky. As a result of heat and rain, they are rotting.

The delegated legislation and government assurance committee under the federal Parliament time and again held discussions and directed secretaries of the ministries and office bearers of STC and KSCL to take necessary steps in this regard, but to no avail so far, said officials of the customs office. A decision was taken a month back as per which the Ministry of Finance would hand over the fertiliser to the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, but no efforts were made to that end. Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development has not easily accepted the finance ministry's latest decision on handing over the dumped fertiliser, saying it neglected this matter by not giving the decision in time.

Officials at the agriculture ministry have informed the parliamentary committee that they have written letter to the Ministry of Finance more than 40 times, but the ministry did not pay any heed.

The fertiliser was brought by the UAE-based Swiss Singapore Overseas Enterprises Pvt Ltd through a tender. The consignment was brought for Salt Trading Corporation and the Agriculture Inputs Corporation.

The quality of this supply has deteriorated as it got wet due to the Amphan cyclone in the Bay of Bengal on 16 May 2020. Questions have been raised regarding the quality of 7,591 out of the 25,000 metric tonnes of fertiliser imported in the course of customs checking, and this amount of fertiliser has remained unattended to and left to rot.

According to the Customs Office, the fertiliser has remained unattended and neglected as the company that acquired the tender and the two corporations that imported it failed to give due attention to the consignment.

The price of chemical fertiliser has increased almost by three times in the international market at present. However, a large quantity of fertiliser remains neglected on the premises of the Customs Office when most of the fertiliser producing countries do not want to export it citing increase in their domestic consumption.

A version of this article appears in the print on January 25, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.