KATHMANDU: Despite restrictions imposed by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority on the Kathmandu Metropolitan City officials to meet the expenses out of the public purse, the seven-member team of the civic body had made the trip to Japan spending the KMC money and returned yesterday. According to Ganesh Rai, acting executive chief, KMC, the team included three members of all-party mechanism, Rai himself, a representative from the Ministry of Local Development, and KMC officials. They had left for Japan on February 6 and visited Kitakyushu and Matsumoto cities there. Rai claimed that the visit was of significant one and said, “We discussed garbage management, youth exchange programme, scholarships for Nepalese students and tourism. Rai further maintained that a Japanese team including the mayors of the cities would pay a visit to Nepal in September. During the visit, Kitakyushu Initiative for Environment felicitated KMC for its commitment to sustainable development and environment protection. There were 62 participants from various cities who had assembled in Japan.